Fairy Dust
by 1thirrin1
Summary: The very first memory Lyra Lewis has after she wakes up, is her name and that she lied inside a coffin. Once free from the coffin, two men with weapons tried to kill her. After successfully escaping, she finds out more strange things she never knew could happen... will the Avengers be able to help her?
1. Chapter 1: New beginning

Chapter 1 _New beginning_

_I saw my mother's painful face and her tears streaming down her cheeks as she forced me a smile. Her hair was a mess and she had a small cut on her left cheek, her dress was torn on the edges by her sleeves shirt and her face was slightly bruised from the beating she had received. _

_A man dressed in a green attire held her in a firm grip and forced her down on one knee, holding a weird gun towards her temples. His face was hidden behind a mask in the shape of a beast, and his hand holding her was deformed from the frying pan I had thrown at him earlier. _

_I cried and begged them to let her go, but they didn't. I was taken away from my mother, and I never saw her again._

I woke up from my memories when a fake cough sounded and looked at the woman in front of me. She was a beautiful woman, with a body any supermodel would envy, dressed in a magenta suit with shining white hair over her shoulders and bangs covering most part of her eyes and the magenta painted mask. Her lips were painted in the same magenta color as the suit, and on her wrists there were two matching silver bracelets that clung to the skin with two red gems on the upper side. Her suit was a simple dark pink leotard, fingerless gloves up to her armpits and long boots to her thighs with a small chain around her ankles. She had a small, pointy nose and high cheekbones, making her a natural beauty.

If you think madness is beauty.

"Do you copy, Amentia?" she asked with her cool, deep female voice. She sounded terrifying sometimes, but after ten years under her torturous classes I had gotten used to her.

"Yeah, yeah." I said nonchalantly and drew another bunny in my notebook. She was supposed to teach me how to hack all types of machines there was in the world, but I had already learned it two years ago and proven it when I hacked myself into her computer to change her notes to bug her.

She slammed her hand into the table where I sat and made me jump slightly. I loved to bug her and make her snap, because I knew that she could do nothing about it.

"You are supposed to answer me properly, Amentia. Again." she demanded. I sighed and took down my legs from the table, and let out a sigh.

"Yes ma'am." I said and faked a smile to her, even though my eyes deceived me and burned a hole through her bangs into her obviously blue eyes. I had seen them before, and once been afraid of them, but now I knew that it was me she feared.

"Let me see them." she said and took the notebook next to me. I dropped the pencil on the table and sighed again in frustration. She would always act like the angry teacher type, even if she was terrified of me. She looked through the fifteen pages of doodles that I had made and slammed the book on my head.

"Hey, what was that for?" I asked angrily and removed my legs from the table down to the floor.

"This is the fifth time this week you don't listen to me!" she yelled and slammed the book into the table. "If you don't want the boss to finish your mother, you better listen carefully to what we say!"

I flinched and widened my eyes in fear under my sunshades. I corrected my position and opened a fresh page of the notebook and wrote down the content of the board. I saw her smirk in the corner of my eye and clenched my left fist under the table.

My name is Lyra Didrikson. I'm born in the summer, blood type O+, and I am a half blood between a human and a magic creature.

My hair is raven black and my eyes are purple. They are the effect of my fathers magic blood and have a special power to them, that is why I always wear shades. My face is pretty narrow and my cheekbones are more visible than the woman's, my eyes are big with dark eyelashes and full lips in a natural red color. My skin is fairly light, almost unhealthily pale and I have a tattoo on my left shoulder in the shape of a swirl with four small arrows pointing in different directions, symbolizing the sun.

I usually wear more casual clothes, most likely jeans with gashes by the knees, tank tops in different dark colors, black boots and a small jacket in different materials. My makeup was always a mixture of dark lipstick, black mascara and eyeshadow, and if I had the energy to I put on some eyeliner.

Of course, I had a secret identity too. I am Amentia, the illusionist and creator of madness and nightmares just by a look into my eyes. Amentia is Latin for madness, which also suits my personality perfectly.

I may act bad ass and rude, but truth is that I only act that way in front of people I don't like, such as the woman. In fact, I am tough and hard to read, but I have a caring side that always wish for my loved ones safety and protection. Sometimes I even confuse myself, but I have a playful and somewhat childish side to me as well.

Back to the catwalk.

For my secret identity, I wear a black sleeveless leather vest with a high neck and a zipper in front, reaching just above my waist. I wear black rolled up short shorts in a synthetic material that looks and feels like leather but lets me breathe and move freely. I also have long sock-like tubes over my legs from the middle of my thigh to a small baggy form at the bottom by my thick boots with steel toecaps and heels, and two wide black belts crossing my hips like a cross with two small pockets attached to them. The pockets are as wide as the belts, but not deep and can only fit flat stuff. In one of them I keep my knuckledusters, in the other I keep a small knife. I have steel pads on my knees and elbows, and fingerless gloves in leather.

My hair goes to the middle of my back, but I usually put it up in a ponytail or a bun, however a few strands of hair are always pointing up in the air no matter what haircut I have.

"Amentia!" the woman yelled and tapped the holographic board in front of me. I snapped out of my mind and looked at her, and pretended that I took notes.

"What now?" I yelled back, sounding annoyed and gave her a small stare over the shades. She flinched as she saw my purple orbs but shrugged it off and continued.

"You have new orders from head commander." she said and pointed to my pocket on my right thigh. I opened it and looked at the small device I had received a while ago and saw the message log shine into my eyes. I opened it and saw the small letters shine, forming a message on the small screen.

'Come to the office. New orders. Mission objective begun.'

I sighed and placed my feet on the floor again, rose from the chair and waved my hand to the woman.

"See ya, Magenta." I called and slammed the door open with a powerful kick from my heavy boots and walked out. Magenta ran after me and followed me with her shining red eyes, sighed and turned back into the room to gather a few things.

I giggled and saw two henchmen approach me. They seemed to talk about something they both found amusing, so I adjusted my hearing to hear them better and dropped the smirk I had on my lips when I heard them talk about me.

"Hey look, that's the boss' pet." one of them said and looked at me through his thick goggles. They both wore similar suits, deep blue with black shoes and gloves and thick goggles to prevent them from my looks. They also wore a black cap to cover their hair. Some let their bangs or sideburns hang out even though they weren't allowed to, but the boss let it slip because he couldn't deal with the hundreds of people working for him showing a little hair.

"Yeah, back from another class with Magenta." the other snorted. "Wonder what they teach her."

"Maybe how to please boss or something." the first one said and laughed, but he fell silent as they walked past me. I looked down at the floor to prevent eye contact, but all I wished for was to kill them both. Instead, I let them have their sick fantasy and just walked on to the office.

I walked through large corridors with high ceilings covered in metal plates. There was only dim light in the rooms, but the metal reflected the light enough to let the inhabitants see where they were heading. Otherwise, there was nothing more to it. Nothing to decorate the place, nothing to make the place a little less... dead.

I came to the office pretty quickly. Or maybe it took a few minutes, it was hard to tell since there were no clocks on the walls and no on the communicator I had.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door, opening it quietly without waiting for an answer. I saw absolutely nothing, but once I had taken a step inside and closed the door behind me the light filled the room and blinded me.

"Please, come in." a deep male voice said and caught me off guard. I looked around the room and noticed the empty book shelves and the dusty desk with the red chair behind it, its back towards me. A small wooden chair was placed for me in front of the desk and told me to sit down without a sound. I sat down and leaned back into the back of the chair with a bored expression on my face.

"I see in the reports that you are becoming more and more safe with your position here. Maybe we have to give you a new taste of the world outside, don't you think so?" he said and turned to face me. I swallowed when I saw his emotionless face and almost fell off of the chair when I saw his new fresh scar.

The boss, also known as Mr. Day, was an old man compared to me. He was about 50 or 60, had all white hair and red eyes in his somewhat round and wrinkled face. The scar lingered over his left eye and glowed red against his pale skin. He wore a black suit and had cut his hair to just barely an inch in length, and in his hand he held a bunch of papers.

"Yeah, Mr. Day, so what?" I asked nonchalantly and smirked and placed my left foot on the edge of the desk. "What's the problem with that?"

"The problem is that we can not keep you in here much longer." he explained and placed the papers on the desk before he placed his hands under his chin with his elbows against the armrests of his chair. "I do believe that it is time to send you on your first field mission."

"Hold on a second!" I said and took down my foot and looked into his eyes. "I won't go anywhere far from my mom. It's a deal, remember?"

"Don't worry, my dear. She will be placed in a safe custody near your position." he assured me and placed a hand on the papers. "Now, this is only if you are interested. If you are not, you will have to stay here with Magenta and the others and continue your studies until we can come up with another mission. Of course..." he added and smirked evilly, placing both hands on the desk with his finger on a button close to him. "... I do not know if I can promise you your mothers safety for that long."

I sighed and felt a shiver down my spine. He always threatened me by threatening my mother, and he always got the way he wanted thanks to that.

"What, when and where?" I asked with a sigh and placed my foot back on the desk. He handed me the papers and let me look through them. They were pale yellow, a standard for the papers in this organization. I saw several pictures attached to the papers with a clip or a bit of tape.

'Project Breakout', the headlines said. There was a few facts of the most famous prisoners in the three known prisons; The Cube with special case prisoners who had been exposed to a great gamma radiation or similar. The Big House with another special case of outlaws shrunk into the size of ants, and last but not least the Vault, protected by the best of the best guards from Shield itself. There were reviews of the protocols and facts with who had done what, powers, previous identity, and so forth.

"Why do I need a full report of some simple bad guys? We have guys far stronger than these creeps." I said and looked at another page. Mr. Day laughed and leaned back in his chair.

"Open up page 35." he said simply and smirked at me. I did as I was told and looked at the page, widening my eyes as I recognized the names.

"These are..." I started but lost my tongue. Mr. Day smiled and leaned forward again with serious eyes.

"The most dangerous prisoners kept at each known prison. The Hulk, more known as Bruce Banners, is held at the Cube in wait for a 'cure' for the Hulk himself. Mad Thinker is kept at the Big House, but that is all we know. The Vault, keeping Baron von Strucker in an isolated cell for precautions. However, we have no information from the forth prison."

I raised an eyebrow at the last statement. "The forth prison?"

"Yes. When you hacked into the SHIELD main computer three days ago, we managed to download a classified file with the names of the four secret prisons around the Earth." Mr. Day said and folded his hands under his chin again. "And yesterday you managed to open the heavily encrypted files, which is why we have been hard on your hacking training."  
"Well, why do you need me now?" I asked and closed the file before I tossed it back on the table. "I hacked the files, gave you the data, now what?"

"We need you to hack one last thing, to help our fellow criminals out to crush the heroes scattered all over the planet." Mr. Day said and showed me his yellow teeth in a wide grin. I sighed and furrowed my eyebrows.

"You mean **your** fellow criminals. I do what you say to keep my mom safe." I said and sat properly in the chair. "If you need me to hack one last thing, sure. But then what? How do I know that you won't find me of any use and kill us both?"

"I promise you." he said and grinned again. "I can not kill your mother as long as you work for me. And I do have use for you. You will go out there, get the heroes attention and trust, and then make them go into a trap we set for them. More information will come along the time."

"Wait, you want me to lie to the most famous and dangerous people in the world?" I almost yelled and stood up so fast that the chair fell to the floor. "Lie to them and then betray them? You're crazy!"

"Do you want to save your mother or not?" he threatened and gave me a glare. I stiffened and took a step back and hit the chair with my foot.

"I do." I whispered and looked into his eyes with both fear and worry. He smiled and gave me another file. I took it gently and opened it, and saw a picture of me. "What the-"

"We will give you a temporary identity, since you only know your first name. Your new name is from now on Lyra Lewis, also known as the hero Amentia, living in New York city. You will be provided with money, material and all various supplies you may need for this mission."

"And what of... Master?" I asked and thought of the frightful man that was the real head of the place. He had only talked to me once, and that was day three after the abduction.

"He will be... otherwise occupied. But he is still the prime leader of this organization." Mr. Day said and seemed a little worried himself. I knew that the only person Mr. Day really feared more than death itself was Master's wrath. I smirked and took the files with me as I left.

"Very well, I have a mission and I will fulfill it." I said. "But I want it in one condition; you free my mom after that."

"I will see what I can do." Mr. Day said and turned his chair again, and I walked out of the room.

I entered my room a few yards away from the office. I laid down on my bed and looked through the files, feeling bored just after the first letter.

"Don't worry mom." I said, but only so I could hear. "I'll get you out of here. I promise."

I was placed on a chair in front of a screen with a couple of key boards in front of me, all of them holographic. I cracked my knuckles into my palms before I placed my fingers on the dashboard. I looked around me and noticed the security cameras observing my every move, my every breath I took. I opened up the network and started to hack through the systems.

First of all, I created a one way wormhole so that I could access the files but not let them find out I had ever read them. Then I accessed the network and looked through the hundreds of names until I found the right one and accessed it.

_So far so good_. I thought and tilted my head to the side to stretch my neck. The next thing I did was accessing the encrypted parts of the files, and listed them in a special order. Finally, I found the right one and accessed it. It demanded a password, but after three pressed buttons I was granted entrance.

After almost an hour of hacking and searching through files, I found the security codes to the four prisons and entered them into the blinking field under the file name '_Password required_'.

"All systems shut down in 124 point zero-zero hours." the program said, and I sighed in exhaust and turned off the screen and walked to the door behind me.

"Hey Mr Day, I'm done!" I called from behind the door and slammed my clenched fist into it, making it buckle a little. "Let me out, I'm tired."

The door opened and I was met by a smiling Mr Day, his eyes covered behind a pair of glasses. He held a small bottle of something reeking of alcohol in it, and handed it to me.

"Good job, my dear Amentia!" he said and sounded groggy. "Here, have a zip before you get to bed!"

I pushed him off of me and gave a soldier the bottle and dashed off to my room. I heard Mr Day call for me behind me, but I didn't listen.

He was always such a perv when he was drunk. I should know, he was drunk the first day I was taken to this place.

"One day, Mr Day." I whispered and opened the door to my room. "One day I will make you pay."

I closed the door and locked it from the inside, turning my back against it and leaning on it. My knees were shaking and my hands were trembling. I grabbed my knees and slipped down on the floor with an exhausted sigh. My breaths were shaking and my vision was getting blurry.

I hated this place. I hated having to hack into the defense-systems of our country's protectors, I hated doing illegal stuff, I hated having to listen to other people telling me what to do when I knew it all was wrong.

I had to fight the urge to just crush one of my mirrors and use one of the shards and cut myself open. I had to fight for not only my sake, but for my mother's as well. She needed me, I was the only one able to protect her.

I sighed and gathered the little energy I had left to brush my teeth and prepare for the night. I plopped down on my bed with a deep sigh and laid down on the hard mattress and thin pillow, and just stared up at the roof. I unzipped my vest a little and took out a photograph of my family, unfolding it carefully as I held it above me and let the little light in the room light it up.

I was seven years old, my sister newborn. My mother and father was sitting on a couch while me and her sat in their laps and smiled.

That was one of the last times I had smiled. A year later my entire world changed.

"Goodnight dad, June." I whispered. "Wish me luck."

I tucked away the photo and looked at the roof again. With another sigh I started to think of mom, and slowly drifted into a deep sleep.

I woke up in a cold sweat. I couldn't remember what I had dreamed, but it felt so real I must have screamed. I looked around me and recognized the metallic room the Organization had kept me in for almost eleven years now. There was just a bed, a chair and a door leading to my bathroom. They had at least granted me that when they took me there, but otherwise it was dull and felt like a prison cell.

I placed a hand to my forehead and tried to remember what I had dreamed, but my mind was clouded. All I could see was the few pictures from my eight birthday, when my dad drove the whole family home from our grandmother.

I remembered the night as if it all had happened the previous night. That night everything was perfect, and then it all went wrong.

"Amentia! Get your butt moving up to the bridge now!" I heard Magenta call from the other side of the door as she almost crushed it. I flinched and looked at the door with wide eyes before she walked away. I sighed and sat up in the bed. I rose to my feet and winced as my sleepy head still hadn't gotten used to the early mornings and late nights. I was a night person, nothing more to it.

I brushed my teeth and combed my hair before I put it up in its usual bun, putting on some makeup and placed my sunshades over my eyes.

I packed the few things I had, the mirrors, the extra pair of shades, the knuckledusters and the few photos into my pockets before I opened the door and walked out. Something told me that it would be good if I had the thing with me that morning.

The way to the bridge was harder to find than the office, since the great staircase leading there was hidden into the walls around us. I walked until I saw two henchmen walk into a secret passage, and quietly followed them. I overheard them with my great hearing, and smirked as they just talked like it was nothing or that they hadn't noticed me.

At first they just talked about all sorts of random stuff, like animals, the weather, replacing their weapons and so forth. Suddenly they changed the subject

"You heard that the boss' little pet's got a mission?" one of them said with a heavy slightly angry tone in his voice. "She's gonna infiltrate the heroes and then dump them to us."

"Why would she do that?" the other said with a puzzled tone to his voice.

"'Cause she still thinks we have her stupid mother." the first one said. I flinched, but continued to follow them to hear more.

"What? Come on, she doesn't know we finished her over ten years ago?" the second said. "Stupid dolly."

I stopped and felt my heart drop to the bottom of my chest. All this time, Mr. Day had threatened to kill her to make me say and do things I hated and had promised myself to never do.

What have I done? What have they done?

I ran towards the guys and took out my knuckledusters from their pockets before I jumped at them in a surprise attack. I kicked the first one in the back of his head and sent him hurtling into the wall and punched the next one in the stomach. I grabbed him by his collar and took off the mask covering his face and stared at him from behind my shades.

"What do you mean you finished her? Where's my mother? What did you do to her?" I yelled and shook the man above the ground to threaten him.

"I- I don't know what you're talking about!" he tried but I shook him again and felt my shades lower from the bridge of my nose. "Wait, wait, not the eyes, not the eyes!"

"Well, if you can't tell me the truth I will have a hard time keeping these babies behind the glass for much longer. So, you gonna tell me or do I have to take your sanity bit by bit?" I threatened and put a finger to the glass of the shade and slowly moved it lower and lower form my eyes, now shining with a magic and evil color of purple.

"N- no, please, I have a family!" he begged and clasped his hands. I giggled and shook him again.

"I had a family too, until **you** took it from me! Now tell me, and I may consider sparing you." I said and took off my shades but avoided eye contact.

"W- we killed her the night you were kidnapped! Y- you were used so boss could use your talents for the Organization!" the man stuttered and cried out when I slammed him into the floor.

"I told you I'd probably spare you." I said and giggled. "At least one person in this place can keep his promise." I then locked our gazes together and felt him struggle to get out of my grip, but once he finally looked at me his eyes went blank and drool ran down his mouth.

I followed the corridor that stretched several yards. I hid in the deepest shadows when someone approached, and from afar I could hear people find the knocked out henchmen before they alarmed the others.

I continued to walk until I saw the bridge and Mr. Day stand in front of a screen with all kinds of windows open. I braised myself for what could come and looked around myself.

"Well, Amentia. Seems that we have to do something about you, now that you know the truth." Mr. Day said and turned around to face me again. "What do you say; kill you quickly, or slowly, or let you suffer more?"

"How can I possibly suffer more than before? You took my remaining family from me, killed the one person I had left in life I could really trust... how can I possibly go through something more painful than that?" I yelled and took a battle stance before I jumped at him.

He swiftly evaded my punches and kicks, and when I spun around in a circle with my left leg out to kick him he just caught it and stopped me before he punched me in my face. I fell back to my back and felt my lungs scream against the steel floor. Mr. Day placed a foot on my chest and stomped the last of my air out of my lungs, before he leaned closer to me.

"I know exactly what. But to prevent you from doing anything, I will make this more interesting." he said in a smirk and showed me a weapon. It looked like a gun with a red orb attached to the barrel, and a weird sign was written on the handle.

"Good bye, Amentia."

He fired.

I woke up in a cold sweat. I laid inside something cold, crowded and hard, feeling a lot like stone or granite. I slowly touched the sides of the small space I laid in and felt a small gap between the opening and the rest of the small space. I managed to push it open and felt the room vibrate as I left it, and once my eyes had adjusted to the dim light of the room I saw that it wasn't a room I was in.

I was in the back of a truck, inside a heavy coffin with a red painted cross over the lid. I let it fall to the back of the truck and climbed out of it with stiff limbs and a throbbing head.

"Hey, you heard anything from the back?" a male voice said from the direction of a small window.

"Yeah, check it out." another said and knocked at the window.

"No way man, it's a dead body back there!" the first one said and sounded terrified. I swallowed and closed the lid again behind me. I crawled back behind a second crater and curled up to a ball and waited for the man to come and check on me, and froze when the window actually opened and the man climbed inside.

"Nothing odd going on here." he called to the driver and poked the lid with his weapon. "Wait! The lid's been removed!"

"What? That's impossible, the thing was dead!" the driver called and stopped the car. He then opened the door from the drivers seat and took a step outside. I could hear the sound of each step he took and held my breath as he came closer to the opening where I was.

The door opened and I jumped at the man. I kneed him in the chest and used him as a spring board to launch myself up in the air, before I ran into the dark night surrounding me.

I heard the other man fire his weapon after me and tried hard to evade them, but since it was pitch black and I was running I had no idea of where they would appear.

I felt a sharp pain in my left thigh and fell down on one knee. I looked at my leg and saw the gash from the bullet that had hit me and took a deep breath between my teeth to subdue the pain. I grabbed whatever I was wearing and ripped a part from the soft material to make a quick bandage and wrapped my leg with it before I slid down behind a small hill to evade the bullets.

"Come on, we need to get her!" one of the men said and started to run closer. I panicked and jumped up in the air again and kicked him in the head, sending him flying into the second man approaching me. They both fell to the ground and groaned in pain, and I took the chance to get out of there.

I ran as fast as I could and finally found another road, leading away from the scene. I stopped for a second and looked around me for a ride, and soon heard a car approach. I lifted my hand and waved to the car coming closer and closer, before I saw the red paint and the silver colored details covering a small car in high speed. I glanced over the whole car and noticed the rust and bumps all over the hood and the sides.

"Hiya!" the driver, a female with long blonde hair and glimmering brown eyes called from behind the wheel. "Need a ride, zombie-girl?"

"I- I'm not a-" I started but stopped. I didn't know what I was, who I was... or why I was in a coffin. I didn't know how I managed to defeat those men, or why they even wanted to fight me.

I didn't know anything about me.

"Yeah, can you drive me to closest town please?" I asked and placed myself in the car. The woman laughed and put on a cowboy hat before she stepped on the gas and drove off.

"Closest to here would be New York, so yer in luck. Hey, I'm Casey by the way, Casey Crash, lookin' for a job right now. And yer?" the woman said and gave me a hand. I looked at the road and saw a curve approach, and I somehow knew that she needed her hand to not crash in it. I quickly took it before I let go, not a word escaping my mouth. She grabbed the nob to the gear and took the curve swiftly, to then drive on a straight road.

"I'm sorry, girl, didn't catch that. What's yer name?" Casey asked again and gave me a smile. I gulped and looked out the window, thinking something out. Suddenly a small spark of pain ran through my head, and a name appeared in my mind. I carefully touched my forehead and felt the pain slowly vanish.

"Lyra." I stated and looked at her with a weak smile on my lips. "Lyra Lewis."

"Well, Lyra, I know that we will have some great time getting to know each other!" Casey said and patted my shoulder. "I'm really curious, why are you wearing a zombie dress?"

I looked down at my clothes, and saw that I wore a long white dress in a silky material, barely touching my figure but thin enough to reveal my breasts and body shape. I saw where I had teared the piece of material for my bandage and noticed that my underwear was just an inch from showing beneath it. I instantly blushed and crawled up a little in my seat. Casey laughed again and handed me a jacket from the seat behind us. I accepted it hesitantly and put it over my shoulders and felt the soft inside warm me up.

"So I take it that ya have no idea where yer goin', right?" Casey asked and looked at the road. I nodded and looked down on my hands and saw two small scars over my left thumb. They looked like animal bite marks, but I couldn't tell for sure.

"Yeah. I lost my memories." I explained and looked at the road as well. "The only thing I remember is my name and what happened before I met you now."

"Yeah?" Casey asked. "What's that?"

"Some..." I started but hesitated. Could I really tell her that I was actually chased by men with weapons? "Some men... tried to hurt me. I was locked inside some crazy coffin, and then they opened it and tried to hurt me."

"Really?" Casey asked and sounded surprised. "Wow, that's tough. Waking up, not remembering and then be hunted... it's a great thing ya met me, girl!"

"Yeah." I admitted and yawned. "How long 'til we are there?"

"The City? Maybe three hours, maybe four. You can sleep if ya wanna." Casey said and looked at her watch. "It's almost midnight, you'll need it if you're gonna find anythin' in the mornin'."

"Really? Okay, thanks Casey." I said and tilted the chair back a little, and as fast as my head was down on the headrest of the car seat I fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2: Breakout

Chapter 2 _Breakout_

"Hey girl, wake up!"

I bolted up and hit my head into the roof. I put my hand on the throbbing part of my head and looked at the familiar face popping in from the side window and was met with a big smile. Her round face and big eyes made her stand out in the crowd, and her clothes made her stand out even more. Dressed in a red and white striped shirt and a pair of bleached jeans, with a cowboy hat and a pair of cowboy boots she didn't look like a big town girl.

I smacked myself in my forehead mentally for the last part. How could I know, I couldn't even remember who I was a few hours ago.

"Want some breakfast?" she asked me again and handed me a paper mug with a dark, steaming liquid in it. I took it carefully and sipped on the warm drink and felt a sting on my tongue from the heat and the strong taste. I spit it back into the cup and looked at the few bubbles created and sighed.

"So I take it ya don't fancy coffee?" Casey asked and took my cup before she tossed out the contains into a bush behind her. I shook my head and gave her an apologetic look, before she handed me a round piece of something soft and mushy. I looked at it and recognized it somehow, but I didn't have a name for it.

"You like bagels?" she asked and let me have the soft so called 'bagel'. I smiled at her and looked at the strange soft piece of food before I took a small bite of it. My stomach growled and clawed my insides for the piece, and I let it slip down my throat after chewing it a few times. That little piece of food was enough to make my day.

"I take it as a yes." Casey said happily and entered the car again. "Don't worry girl, I've got plenty where that came from!"

"Casey, you're absolutely amazing!" I said and finished the bagel before I threw my arms around her neck. "Thank you so much!"

"Nah, no problem! What are friends for?" Casey said and started the engine. "We're close now, and we'll reach my place in half an hour. Get some more rest and I'll see ya soon."

"Thanks, Casey, you're the best." I said and leaned back again. "I'll definitely repay you one day."

I quickly fell asleep again and started to dream.

_I saw a little girl, probably two or three years old playing with a great doll house in a backyard. Her hair was dark brown, and her eyes shone in a magic yellow color. Her face was narrow and her nose was small for a two year old, but the childish lines over her cheeks were still there. _

_She wore a pink dress with spaghetti straps over a yellow shirt. She also wore pink shoes and white socks, and she had a small bracelet around her small wrists. _

"_Big sis, big sis!" she called and showed me one of the dolls she had. "Haj, haj mess." _

"_Hair mess?" I heard another voice said and saw two small arms extend from my vision, and saw the tiny hands take the small doll and a hair brush lying in the green, shimmering grass next to me. The hands then started to comb the messy hair and take out the small pieces of glue that had gotten there somehow. The hands managed to clear out the mess, and then the doll was returned to the small girl. _

"_Thanks, big sis!" the little girl said and ran off with the doll close to her chest. I looked after her before a voice behind me caught my attention, and I turned around. _

"_Lyra dear, you are such a good big sister." a woman said and patted my head. Suddenly it came to me that I was a child in the dream, and the woman in front of me was one of my relatives. _

_The woman was in her mid sixties, with a few strands of gray hair shining through her otherwise red sparkling hair. She had shimmering blue eyes and a few wrinkles on her narrow face, and a long neck. She wore a mint green blouse and white scarf with a pair of white pants, and white shoes to that. She was a noble lady, with a great house behind the porch where she was sitting with two other people. _

"_When I was your age, I would not have treated my own brothers with such gentleness and care." she continued and gave me a smile. "Seeing you treat June so good makes my heart warm."_

"_Well, you were the youngest in your family, right?" I said with the same voice as before. "I know that your brothers didn't treat you well, but I want to treat June well so that we won't fight when we get older." _

"_Oh, you are such a clever little girl, Lyra!" she said and pinched my cheeks carefully. "And you are only eight years old!" _

"_Well, mom and dad taught me much." I said and looked at two other people sitting on the porch. I suddenly felt my throat go numb and my head feel heavy. Their faces were hidden in the shade of the house, and no matter how much I tried I couldn't make them out. _

_Suddenly, my whole world changed and turned into a dark cloud that surrounded me and made it harder to breathe. _

"_Lyra..." I heard a voice call from far away. I spun around and felt my body change, growing into something larger. I looked down and saw that I was changing back to my present day body, all the scars coming back to me and the bruises. _

"_Lyra!" the voice called, a little louder and closer. I felt a couple of hands grab my shoulders, and saw two shining red eyes appear before me. I struggled in fear and saw a mouth appear under the eyes, and soon I saw a face. _

"Lyra! Snap out of it, damn you!" Casey yelled and shook my shoulders again, making me yelp in shock and stare into her tear filled eyes. I was wide awake and just stared at her, seeing her worry emit from her entire body. She sighed in relief when she saw that I was conscious, and shook me gentler as I was taken back to the woken land.

"Man, I thought you were dead for a sec!" she yelled and hugged me. "You okay?"

"Yeah- wait, what happened here?" I asked and looked around me.

Cars were thrown all over the place, upside down or tilted to the side. Houses were smashed into pieces and people were still running all over the place. The police and some sort of special enforcement were on the scene and chased down people who were going mad.

"Dunno, but you'd better get outta there before-"

A loud crash was heard close to us, and I got out of the car just before it was smashed into a pancake. I saw a shadow float close to us and looked at the source;

a man, dressed in a blue suit with white gloves and boots floated above us. His hair and beard was long and dark with a few streaks of gray in it. His eyes were glowing in a white light, sending sparks through them with a scary aura around him.

I shot out of the car and acted on instincts, pulling Casey with me into the closest alley and hiding her behind a container.

"Casey, I need you to stay here until I say anything different, okay?" I said and pulled off her jacket and handed it to her, revealing the gown I wore. "Promise me, okay?"

"Wait, where are you going?" Casey asked and looked at me with more worry in her eyes. I stopped and turned to look at her. Honestly, I had no idea of why I acted like I did. Why I protected her, why I was ready to fight that mysterious man.

"I don't know." I admitted and shrugged. "My gut's just telling me to go."

Suddenly, something dropped down from above and almost hit Casey in the head. I looked at her in shock and saw that she was unharmed, and looked at what had dropped from the sky. I saw a brown sports bag, and opened it to see a set of black clothes, steel pads, thick boots and knuckledusters. I lifted the gear up and examined them for a few seconds, before I remembered what I had them for.

Quickly, I changed into the suit behind the container and put up my hair in a bun on the back of my head and took the shades and put them over my eyes. I walked out of the shadows and looked at Casey with a stern look on my face.

"Whoa!" Casey said and widened her eyes. "Who are you?" I giggled and put on my knuckledusters with a grin, before I looked straight into her eyes.

"I'm Amentia, wielder of madness. Just remembered when I saw the suit." I explained and walked to the end of the alley with loud steps from the steel toecaps and heels. "Just make sure you're safe, and I'll be back."

"Promise." Casey said and ran off. I looked around me for the mysterious man and saw him, still floating in the sky.

I looked around me for a way to get to him faster, but only saw the harbor in front of me. I ran there in hope for a raft or similar way to get to him. I ran up behind a container and looked at the man from a distance. Suddenly, I heard voices coming from not too far away. I turned around the corner and saw two men and a woman stand next to each other and talk.

One of the men had dark skin and partially dark hair, with a white line in the back between his ears. He had an eye patch over his right eye, and a square of facial hair just under his lower lip. He wore a black suit with white tight belts over his waist and chest, and a red circle with a black falcon in the middle of it.

The other man wore a red suit with a black marking on the front in the shape of an ant. His face was covered with the hood of the suit, and he had a silver belt over his hips. He wore black boots as well, and black gloves.

The woman had fair skin, with dark brown hair and large blue eyes. She wore a dress, yellow and black with the pattern of a wasp, long gloves and tights underneath the dress. She also had a special kind of headphones over her ears, looking like antennas.

"Hey, you there!" the man with the eye patch called and caught my attention. "Get over here!"

I did as I was told and walked up to them, and received surprised and curious glances.

"Who are you, and how did you get here?" the man with the eye patch asked and looked at me sternly. I placed a hand on my hip and stood in a mocking pose.

"The name's Amentia." I snapped back at him, seeing him widen his one eye in more shock than surprise.

"I'm Wasp." the woman said and looked a little puzzled. "We're also new around these parts."

"Ant-Man." the man dressed in red said and gave me a friendly smirk. "Wait, Amentia is the Latin word for 'madness', right?"

"Yeah, but let's stick to the point, okay?" I said and looked at him. He just raised an eyebrow at me. I looked at the last man and waited for him to introduce himself. "First of all, who are you, who's that, what the heck is going on?"

"That's classified." he just said and looked back out on the water. I felt a chill down my spine and knew exactly what that feeling was.

_So cold_. I thought to myself and felt a bit embarrassed, but I hid it and just accepted his excuse. I looked at the man floating in the air above us and felt the whole area around us move as he approached. He seemed to control something with those shining eyes, either it was just the air or the gravity itself.

"So who's the bad guy?" I asked and cracked my knuckles against the palm of my hand. Wasp shrugged and put her hand by the corner of her moth against Mr. Secret, and whispered to me.

"Well, the thing is with SHIELD that..." Wasp began, but hesitated and winced a little.

"Let me guess; classified." I said and looked at the mysterious man with an ice cold stare. Wasp sighed and shrugged.

"You've got that right." she said and looked back at the man again.

"Either way, we need to wait for the reinforcements or-" the man with the eye patch said and looked at me, but I was already on the move. I was ready to get out there and fight.

"Wait! Where do you think you are going?" the man said and grabbed a hold of my arm. I looked up at him from over my shades and smirked.

"I'm gonna fight this guy, what else?" I said and wriggled out of his grip.

"We are to wait in the reinforcements!" the man repeated himself and grabbed my arm again, starting to annoy me. "Stand down."

"I won't take orders from someone I don't know the name of." I said and bared my teeth at him.

I jumped up in the air and landed on a container closer to the man, looking for a way to come closer to him. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning rumbled over the sky and blinded me. I looked up and saw the shade of a cape and a feathered helmet, attacking the man. The sound of metal hitting something hard echoed through the air, repeating a few times before two voices was heard over the thundering storm rolling over the skies.

"Enough. This, ends, NOW!" a male voice yelled followed by a warriors cry. I looked up and saw a hammer surrounded by lightning fly towards the man in an incredible speed. I was taken aback by the force emitting from the impact and fell back on my butt, before I looked up into the sky and managed to make out the warrior fighting.

Golden hair and a silver helmet shone between broad shoulders under a long red cape. The chest was dressed in a black shirt with metal plates on them, and a golden belt around his waist. He also wore black and yellow boots over blue pants, and in his hand were the magic hammer once again.

It was Thor, the thunderer.

I didn't know where I had learned that, but I knew it and that was all I needed to know. I looked around me for a way to get up to him and help, but the only thing I could see was a small raft from a broken boat or something alike.

The attacks repeated continuously and without a break, but I only felt more and more useless by the minute. I jumped back to the two heroes standing by the bay and Eye patch.

"We can't just stand here and watch this." Wasp said and looked back at the other two. "We have to do something! If Thor can't stop him, he'll come into the city."

"Don't you think I know that, Wasp?" Eye patch said and furrowed his eyebrows. Ant-Man placed a hand on her shoulder, but she just pushed it away angrily.

"We're talking millions of people. I'm not gonna let that happen." she said and suddenly shrunk into the size of a fairy or pixie and unfolded wings from her back. I widened my eyes at the sight.

"Jan!" Ant-man called when she flew off. I saw that he weren't wearing the weird silver helmet in the shape of an ant-head anymore, but revealed his apricot colored hair and soft, brown eyes. His face was smooth and handsome.

"Jan, wait!" he called and took a step after her, but he hesitated. I looked at him and noticed something... off with him. Was he worried for her?

I need a ride, I reminded myself. Something to get myself out to that lunatic and fight him. Suddenly my mind told me to just walk out to the man, on the water. I shook my head and looked around me, but saw nothing odd except a few people that had managed to come up close and video taped the whole event. I sighed and looked back at the man, once again hearing the thought echo through my head.

_Go. You will be safe. _

A memory told me I had one weakness, and that was the water. If I jumped into the water, I would most certainly not come up again.

I sighed and prayed to anything that I wasn't wrong trusting the weird voice in my head. I took a few steps closer to the water and looked at it, before the man once again called from afar.

"Can your brutish mind understand what I'm telling you?" the man yelled and held out his hand, having Thor in an invisible grip a bit away from him. "I control one of the four fundamental forces of reality!"

I panicked and took a hesitant step closer the edge, feeling the water splash into my face due to the storm and strong winds around me. I looked back at the men in the sky and heard the rest of the monolog with fear in my heart.

"I can remove gravity's effect on you, sending you hurtling into space! Or, I can increase it a thousandfold, like this!" the man finished and clenched his raised fist. Thor fell with a high speed into the water, a few bubbles left on the surface after him.

I paled and looked at the water in front of me, before I took a step down and felt the water surround me. It entered my clothes and soaked my skin, my hair and burning my eyes. My lungs were put under a heavy pressure and I coughed even though I had no air.

Suddenly my body felt light, almost floating. My lungs filled with air again, and my vision cleared a little piece at the time. I opened my eyes fully and saw that I was floating just above the surface of the water, and that some sort of force held me up. I looked around me, but saw that Wasp was busy annoying the man. I took a step forward and felt my feet move just like if I was on land, and hurried up to help.

The man suddenly sent out another shock wave of energy and sent me and Wasp hurtling back into the water. I saw Wasp fall just in front of me and grabbed her carefully before I placed her close to my chest, taking most of the hit and protecting her small body from being crushed by the waves. We both sunk under the surface, but I managed to get back up and hold her above the waves to give her some air.

Suddenly I saw another hero enter the scene, flying straight towards the busy mysterious man with his fists aiming for his face. He was knocked down and fell towards the water, before the armored hero sent a beam of blue light into the man's chest and sent him hurtling into the water as well.

Wasp flew up to the man in the red and yellow armor, and I jumped on invisible platforms to get there as well.

"Hey Janet," the armored man said and looked at Wasp, "I knew we traveled in some of the same social circles, but I didn't know you came to parties like this."

He then seemed to notice that I was there, and looked me all over. I couldn't help but cock and eyebrow, feeling a little discomfort in being stared at by a tin man.

"Who's your new friend?" he asked. I imagined a smiling face inside that helmet and smirked awkwardly, feeling a little more discomforted than before.

"We just met, she's Amnesia." Wasp said and looked at me. I furrowed my eyebrows and placed my hands on my hips and glared at her from above my shades.

"It's Amentia, as in madness." I said before I looked back at the Tin Man. "Let's take the introductions after we kick that guys sorry excuse for a butt."

"So who was that guy, anyway?" the Tin Man said and looked back at Wasp.

"Some crazy physicist. Something to do with Nick Fury." Wasp answered and sounded worried. _At least she let me know more than eye patch_, I thought and held back a frustrated sigh. "Tony, am I glad to see you. I wasn't sure if you were on the west coast or-"

"Wasp!" I said and placed a hand to my hip again. "Please remember that we're busy here! If thunder-guy..." I started before we both widened our eyes and looked back to the water.

"Oh no..." Wasp began and paled.

"Thor!" we both yelled and raced down to the surface of the water. Wasp flew with her pixie wings, while I sprinted from one invisible footstep under me to another.

"What?" Tin Man asked behind us and followed our lead.

"Thor. You know, with the hammer?" Wasp explained. "He's at the bottom of the ocean. We have to help him!"

Suddenly, the man floated up from the water in a bubble with water around him that slowly dripped off of him. The three of us looked at him and stopped moving. Something sounded from the armor Tin Man was wearing, but I couldn't make out what it was.

"Jan, the energy he's putting out, field comparison to a black hole. This guy is trouble."

"You're right." the man said and made his eyes glow again. Suddenly, a wave of energy hit Tin Man and sent him up in the air.

"No!" I yelled and placed myself in front of Wasp to protect her from another attack. It didn't come, all the energy was aimed for Tin Man so I took my knuckledusters and placed them on my hands before I aimed a punch to his face. The field around him took the first three hits, but when Wasp shot him in the back I managed to hit him before the field surrounded him again.

Wasp continued to shoot him with the yellow rays she created from her hands and I punched and kicked him until he grabbed her and held her in a hard grip. I tried to kick him to make her release her, but was sent back a few yards. Wasp managed to get out of his grip, and suddenly two pair of giant hands grabbed the man and crushed him inside.

"Hank, you went big!" Wasp said and looked at the man. I recognized him as Ant-Man, and raised an eyebrow. Giant-Man was more suitable for someone that size.

"Jan, you two get out of here. I'll handle Graviton." he said and looked at the little pixie buzzing next to his ear. I widened my eyes and glared at him in anger. Nobody ordered me to stand back from a fight without regretting it.

"What? No, we're in this together! All of us-" Wasp began when Giant-Man's hands were forced apart and we were all forced back to the bay. I landed with my back first into a container and felt something crack and brake inside of me, and let out a moan in pain. As my vision was getting blurry, I saw the eye patch man turn his back to us and look up at Graviton, as Giant-Man had called him.

"This is between us, Hall!" he called. "Do whatever you want with me, but no one else has to get hurt."

"No." Graviton said and came a little closer to us. I managed to sit upright and looked at them from above my shades. "You wanted me to create a super soldier, but I've become so much more. I'm beyond human now. I'm going to crush you, then show the world their new master's power! Destroying the city will be a good demonstration."

His eyes started to glow again, and the man with the eye patch floated into the air closer to him. I tried to stand up and go after him, but whatever I broke disabled me to move.

"Good bye, Nick Fury!" Graviton called and clenched his fist. Fury flinched and started to crumble, when suddenly his head exploded and the body turned into a pile of metal junk. The head floated into Graviton's hand, and he ripped off the mask hiding the mechanic head.

"Fury..." he muttered and crushed the machine with his bare hand. I sighed in relief but winced in pain as my broken bones slowly pierced my lung every time I took a too deep breath.

Graviton was furious, and took of towards the city. He stopped just a few yards in front of it and raised his hands, slowly lifting the city from its grounds and created a levitating lump of earth with a city over it. I widened my eyes in horror and remembered that it was there Casey was.

I stood up despise of the pain and looked at the mass of earth and the man holding it afloat. Suddenly a pillar of water raised from behind Graviton, and revealed Thor that had come back from the depths of the ocean. He hit Graviton with his hammer and then sent him flying into the earth, only to make it fall down into the water again. He flew into the water and held it up, and slowed the fall to only create a few waves on the water. I smiled and let out a small cheer, before I closed my mouth and blushed before I let out a small giggle.

I hurried over the water to the landed island and looked all over for Casey, but saw the road that was wrecked and the knocked down Graviton and Thor in the air with his hammer in hand.

"I recommend, you stay down, mortal." he said with a dark voice. Graviton just started to chuckle and stood up before he flew up into the air again.  
"You think you can stop me?" he asked and looked at him through shining eyes. "I've beaten you before, I can do it again!"

Just as Graviton would send me and Thor another attack, a beam of blue light hit him from above and sent him into the concrete of the damaged street. Thor and I looked up and saw Tin Man enter the scene again, a smile playing on my lips. The three of us landed on the edge of the crater where Graviton landed and looked down at him.

"You really should listen to the man." the Tin Man said. A giant foot stomped down on the ground next to Graviton, and Giant-Man looked down at us.

"You're sick, Franklin. You need help." he said and glared at him. I then saw a yellow bug fly up to him and figured it was Wasp.

"Or possibly more zapping." she said and showed him the yellow light emitting from her hands. I placed my hands on my hips and glared at him from above my shades.

"No... no, the power I wield... you are nothing compared to me!" Graviton yelled.

He forced us all away from him, smashing into buildings close by and keeping a high pressure on us. He floated up in the air again, his anger burning in his eyes.

"I'm stronger than all of you! I'm the strongest one there is!" he yelled and raised his arms over his head. I heard a crash and managed to move my head enough to see a massive green being stand on the rooftop behind him. He wore purple pants with gashes on their knees and ripped just under that.

"You sure about that?" he asked and launched from the building to grab him. They then disappeared from my view, and the pressure put on us disappeared as well. We all moved towards the loud crashes from the cargo area in the harbor, and saw the two of them fight all over the place.

I walked together with Giant-Man and Wasp, and when we finally arrived I saw the green man again. He was roaring and looked like a wild beast while fighting, which sent chills down my spine.

"Is that the Hulk?" I heard Giant-Man say, more of a statement than a question.

"Isn't he supposed to be... you know... the bad guy?" Wasp asked and made a confused gesture.

Graviton sunk the ground around him and took the Hulk down with it. I felt the gravity change around us and my heart pumped adrenaline through my veins.

"Who cares? He's helping us, now we should help him!" I said and ran forward.

"Take him down!" Tin Man yelled and charged at him in company of Thor, and from behind me, Giant-Man and Wasp attacked on ground floor. However, Graviton knocked us all to the ground with his powers and crushed us. I let out a painful cry as I felt my broken bone pierce into my lung and other vital guts.

"Look at you fools." Graviton said. "I posses the power of the universe itself! I am power!"

The next thing he did was beyond words. He floated higher up in the air, bringing several containers and a lot of dust and dirt with his into a tornado of gravity mess up. The pressure increased and I had a hard time breathing, less moving.

"Can't move... can you?" I heard the Tin Man ask Thor.

"Nay." he answered. "The others?"

No one answered, too busy trying to breathe along with me. I clenched my fists and fought the force with all I had, but for no good. I pressed on without any success.

I suddenly heard a crash come from where the Hulk had crashed, and saw that Giant-Man disappeared into a blue light. I heard more crashes come from the Hulk, and saw him crawl up from the hole. Graviton got mad and pushed more gravity into the crater, but somehow the Hulk still managed to stand up. Graviton made the crater wider, putting more pressure on us and making it harder to breathe.

Suddenly, the pressure dropped and I could move again. I looked up and saw the Hulk fly away from Graviton and several Containers flew towards him. Thor, Tin Man and Ant-Man, now sitting on a flying ant charged at Graviton while Wasp and I flew up to the Hulk and started to clear the path for him. Wasp zapped the containers while I kicked them or punched them out of the way, feeling the impact hurt my knuckles but I ignored the pain.

"Y- you're helping me." the Hulk said and widened his eyes at us.

"Yeah, now hit him!" Wasp said and smiled at him. I looked at them from the side and smiled as well, before we all looked back at Graviton and made our way down.

Hulk hit him straight on and knocked him down, but was then tossed back on a giant block of concrete and rock. Wasp and I flew at him, Wasp zapping him while I landed kicks on his gravity field until Tin Man came up before us and discharged a great beam of blue light from a blue orb on his chest.

Suddenly, a cargo ship crashed into Graviton and exploded before a storm of lightning was created above us. I saw the cargo ship fly to the side and noticed that Graviton was about to make a run for it, but I ran forward and kicked him twice in the chest. I heard Thor's voice call from above and knew that I only had a second to get out of the way or else I would be hit as well.

"For Midgard!" I heard him yell and kicked Graviton one last time before I ran away from the pillar of lightning coming down towards me. I was about to get hit when two mechanic arms grabbed me by my waist and pulled me up into the air, away from the target for the lightning.

The noise was unbearable for my sensitive ears. I looked around me while holding my head to block out the sound, and saw a crater being created around Graviton. When the lightning subsided, all that was left was the poor Graviton, fried to a crisp in the middle of the crater. His skin was scorched, his hair was still burning and his suit was torn in many places. I landed with the others at the edge of the crater and looked down on the man. Once powerful, now powerless.

"Who's strongest now?" the Hulk mocked and folded his arms over his chest.

"You had the power to do anything." Giant-Man said before he shrunk into Ant-Man again. "And you used it to put millions of lives at risk."

"Pretty sad." Wasp said from Ant-Man's shoulder and zapped him in the chest. He winced in pain before he collapsed, drool running down from his mouth and into his beard. I wrinkled my nose and sighed, relieved that we had finally beaten him.

"Come!" Thor suddenly said and wrapped Ant-Man, Tin Man, Hulk and I into a great bear hug. "Let us celebrate!"

"Thor... can't... breathe!" I said as I was squished in between Hulk and him. He lightened his grip around us a little, and I gasped for air. Wasp giggled behind us and I gave her a cold glare from my squished position.

"Freeze!" a male voice called from the other side of the crater. Thor released us all and turned to look at the man holding a bazooka in his hands, pointing it towards us. A chill went down my spine as I looked behind us and saw a couple of tanks and more people with heavy weaponry approach, all around the crater. A lot of choppers flew in the sky, armed with missiles and launchers.

"Step away from the Hulk." the man repeated. He was a rather skinny man, with short golden hair and a similar suit as Fury wore. "He is a fugitive from the Cube."

I looked at Hulk and saw him grit his teeth at the man, when suddenly Tin Man placed himself in front of him with a protective gesture.

"You want the Hulk, you go through me." he said and got everyone's eyes turned to him. "The Hulk saved us all. He's a hero, as sure as any of us."

I looked at the others and saw that they all stepped up for him, standing in front of him with serious looks on their faces.

"Stand down!" a familiar voice called from behind the people with heavy weapons, and soon Nick Fury stood in the front row with furrowed eyebrows and a cold stare in our direction. "We've got bigger problems than the Hulk. 74 super villains are now on the loose all across the country, maybe the world by now."

"How did this happen, Fury?" Tin Man asked with a deep undertone of suspicion and anger. I looked at the man with the eye patch and sent him a small glare from above my shades. The woman next to him noticed what I did and placed a hand on her weapon, so I tilted my head back to fully cover my eyes again. The woman wore the same type of suit as the others, she had tan skin and dark brown hair and eyes. Her hair was cut short, which made her look a bit more masculine and powerful.

"I don't know." Fury said curtly. I felt the same cold feeling emit from him like when I asked for his name and shivered. "But we can find out together. Come work for me. As SHIELD agents, you can make a real difference."

I looked down on the ground and paled. I couldn't bear the thought of being controlled by someone else, or taking orders by someone who couldn't even tell me his name. This was not a man I wanted as my boss.

"No." Ant-Man said from next to me, like if he had read my mind. "This is your fault, isn't it? SHIELD created Graviton. Whatever you had Hall doing, changed him. You kept him under wraps, and this happened."

Fury glared at Ant-Man, then moved his gaze to the rest of us. I tried hard not to stiffen when he looked into my eyes, when Tin Man suddenly stated his mind.

"Fury's right."

"What?" Wasp and I asked shocked. "You of all people are going to work for SHIELD?" Wasp finished and folded her arms across her chest. I placed a hand on my hip and stared at him as well, feeling confused and surprised.

"No, he's right about us making a difference. Together." Tin Man explained before it got worse. I raised an eyebrow and looked at him, more confused but less surprised. "One on one we can take down a super villain or two, but 74... none of us could do it alone. Together, we gave a chance. What we did here, it could change things. The world needs us, but not as SHIELD-agents. As a team, on our own. Together we can avenge the wrongs caused by all these villains."

"We can be 'Avengers'." Wasp said and landed on my shoulder.

"Huh, good name." Hulk said and smiled at us. I looked at him and smiled at him too, feeling a little weird since he didn't seem to be the smiling type.

"Absolutely." I said and reached my hand to Wasp, who high-fived it in her minimal size. She smiled widely at me, before we turned to the guys. Suddenly the blonde man came up to Fury with a tablet in his hand.

"Director Fury, we have a security footage online. Graviton didn't wake until after the super villain prison shut down. He couldn't have been responsible." the man said and read from the tablet. I stiffened and looked at them and then on the man in the crater.

"And if he wasn't... who was?" Fury asked and looked at the crater as well.

"Casey!" I cried out and looked around me, realizing that she was on the floating island until not long ago. I ran past the crowd and pushed people out of the way, Wasp hanging on to my hair as I ran.

"Wait, who?" she asked and released to fly next to me.

"My friend, she was on the first block Graviton lifted! I have to find her!" I called before I jumped in hope of flying like before, but I only sunk down to the ground and had to continue the running. "What the... I can't fly!"

"No, most people can't." Tin Man said behind me and came up next to me. I sighed and evaded a broken container before I looked up at him.

"No idiot, I could fly before but now I can't!" I yelled and stopped running. I heard a voice far away and looked around me.

I saw Casey. She was standing next to an ambulance with a paramedic on her heels, waving her hand at me and calling my name.

She was okay. I was relieved, and ran up to her. We hugged each other before we let go and laughed.

"Gosh, girl, didn't know ya had those wicked powers!" Casey said and patted my head. "Glad ya could help 'em?"

"Yeah." I said and looked at her. She had multiple bruises on her arms and legs, but only one bleeding wound on her right elbow. "I'm glad you're somewhat okay."

"Nah, some scratches maybe. So, what now?" Casey said and shoved away the medic trying to get to her. "Ya gonna stay with those other people or ya gonna look for yer own place?"

"I-" I started but hesitated. "I- I don't have a place to live..."

"I have an idea." Tin Man said and landed next to us. "Hi, we haven't met, but I guess you know who I am already."

"Oh, my, gosh. Yer Iron Man!" Casey squealed and blushed. "Honor to meet ya!"

I looked at Casey and then Iron Man. So that was his name!

"Well, to come to the point, you could live with your friend Casey here for a week until I arrange a little surprise for you. Sounds good?"

"Oh my gosh, he knows my name!" Casey said and almost fainted in my arms. "Yeah, she can live with me, no prob!"

"Great! Then I guess I'll see you later, Amnesia." Iron Man said and took off again, leaving me and Casey standing there with the paramedics approaching on Casey.

"It's Amentia!" I called after him with a smile.

This would be a crazy adventure.


	3. Chapter 3: Some Assembly required

Chapter 3: Some A_ssembly required_

I saw the mutant man-chimp jump out from the window at the bank and shatter glass all over the street. From what I had been told, he was supposed to be another scientist that studied apes and somehow transformed into a crossover between a mandrill, baboon and human. He had red fur and a monkey's head, mostly monkey body and a little human parts left. He wore a blue shirt and black boots with a purple cape over his shoulders.

He knocked out a female police officer using his hypnotic eyes and foul breathe, before aiming his gaze on a manhole in the ground and tried to tear it open. Suddenly a yellow zap hit him in the back, and a female voice called for him.

"Mandrill, right? Baboon-guy, pheromone powers?"

The baboon looked down and saw the tiny figure of Wasp, smirking and gritting his yellow fangs.

"I'm gonna have to ask you to put the money and surrender, or else you _will_ be beat up." Wasp said, her hands on her hips and a stern look on her face. I took that as my signal and swiftly jumped down from the balcony close by where I had stayed hidden until then, and sneaked up behind him. Mandrill laughed at Wasp, seeing her as a small nothing compared to him.

"Wasp?" he asked mockingly. "You think I'm scared of you? I'll tear those wings off and then I'll-"

Iron Man walked up to Mandrill and stood a few inches from Mandrill's face as he leaned down to stare at Wasp. Mandrill stiffened and lowered his ears, before he made a handstand backflip and landed with his arms crossed over his face.

"It doesn't matter, I can take both of y-" he started when I tapped his shoulder and Thor flew down behind me. I took off my shades and put them on my head before I glared at him with my purple eyes.

"I... uh..." he started, when suddenly Giant-Man came walking down the street and glared at him. He took a few steps back from him and bumped into Hulk, standing close by with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Oh, oh, oh, ah, ah, I surrender, I surrender!" Mandrill cried, his stuttering sounding more like a monkey's cry than any human sound. I smirked and walked over to him to cuff him, and Wasp flew up next to me.

"Well, that was easy." she said and patted my ear for some reason, tickling me. I shoved her away and looked at her with an annoyed smile.

"Verily. He brings shame to all monkeys with his cowardice." Thor said and placed his hammer to rest on his shoulder. "What say you, Iron Man?"

"I say; one down, 73 to go." Iron Man said and pressed his knuckles against the palm of his hand.

I heard the sirens of the police cars come from afar and pushed Mandrill to his knees by the curb. I put my shades over my eyes again and walked past Iron Man and Thor, and they both looked at me surprised.

"Where are you headed, friend Amentia?" Thor asked and placed his hammer to his belt. I turned around to face him and smirked.

"I'm going back to Casey, I promised her I would help her pack up the last things." I explained and placed a hand to my hip.

"Hey, remember when and where we are meeting later, okay?" Iron Man said and waved after me.

"Yeah, yeah." I said before I took off, using the flying powers I had discovered.

The last couple of days had been stressful and hectic, but I had discovered more about myself. I remembered a little about my family, that I had a little sister named June that would be 15 by now. I remembered my parents, Lloyd and Ana. I remembered that I quit school, but that's where it ended.

I was invited to a special ceremony as Iron Man called it the next day, so I would of course attend. I was both curious and worried, since he flirted with me non stop.

Thor seemed sort of fond having me around, already calling me his friend and all. I couldn't say the same with Hulk, but he is who he is.

Wasp had asked if we should go shopping some day or something alike, and Ant-Man asked me more about my Latin name and the reason I could stand in the air. So apart from Hulk, everyone seemed okay with having me around, and that was a good sign.

I helped Casey unpack the last things and took a quick shower before she and I took a ride through town in a rental car since hers was at the repair shop.

"So there's the statue of liberty, New York's greatest landmark. And there's a cafe, can't we go there, please?" Casey said and steered the car into the parking lot for the cafe. I sighed and shrugged.

"Since we're already here I guess it couldn't hurt w-"

"Yay!" Casey squealed and jumped out of the car. I followed her as fast as I could and ran inside the cafe looking for her. I saw a waving hand in the line to the disk and ran there.

"Casey, what the hell?" I asked and looked at her childish face. She pointed at a cake in the window and blushed for a reason.

"I love cakes, okay, and I want that one but I want that one too and-" she started to ramble on, but I placed a hand over her mouth and silenced her.

"Casey, you need to lock the car." I reminded her and pointed my thumb in the car's direction. Casey's eyes widened and she paled a little, before she ran out to the car and pulled out the keys. I stood in the line when suddenly the man by the machine looked at me.

"Can I help you?" he asked a little annoyed and cocked an eyebrow at me. I stiffened and paled as well, but cleared my throat and tried to remember what cake Casey wanted.

"I- I'll take two of those." I said and pointed at the cakes, and the man picked out two plates before placing them on a tray. "And a coffee, extra sugar and one tea."

"Anything else?" the man asked. "Eat here or take with you?"

_Weird question since you've already placed them on a tray_. I thought and shook my head. I was about to pay when it caught me; I still didn't have any money.

"That's 8 dollars." the man said and held out his hand. I panicked and looked through my pockets for anything, when I suddenly felt a small wallet in my left back pocket. I took it out and found a card, with a small code written on a post it. I handed him the card and looked at the note before I entered the code into the machine and took the receipt. I was stunned to say the least. Where did it come from? Was it my secret guardian angel that handed me my equipment like a few days ago?

Casey ran inside and took out her wallet, but I put my hand out and told her with my look to put it away. She looked confused, but when she saw the tray with the cakes and the brewing drinks she just smiled and grabbed it before running to the closest free table. I walked after her with my hands in my pockets, my gaze down on the floor in thought.

'_Where does these things come from? Why do they keep popping up when I really need them? Who's giving me them? Why am I getting them?_'

I thought back to when we fought Graviton.

'_When I said I was going to fight him, a bag with my things appeared from nowhere and a few memories came back to me. When I needed more casual clothes, five boxes of clothes appeared in Casey's apartment the same day, all in my style. When I needed money, a wallet with my name in it suddenly appeared in my pocket_.'

I bumped into the chair and snapped out of my thoughts. I looked at Casey that already had started on her cake in big munches, and smiled tiredly at her as I sat down on the chair. I took the plate with my cake and my tea, slowly sipping on the warm drink. My thoughts started to wander again, and my head started to spin.

'_Why are things appearing when I need them? Is someone providing them to me? Does it have to do with the men that tried to kill me that night? Why do they feel so familiar for some reason? Like if I had seen them before. What_-'

"Ya gonna eat that, girl?" Casey asked from the other side of the table and pointed on my untouched cake. I looked at her and then on the cake, before I handed it to her. She looked a little surprised at first, but shrugged and cut it in half.

"Ya need some flesh to those bones, girl, or else yer gonna turn into a walking talking skeleton!" Casey said and took a spoonful of my cake and handed it to me. "Now come on, open up!"

"C- Casey, what are you d-" I stuttered and blushed a little. Casey shushed me and winked.

"Trust me, pal, you'll like it." she said and moved the spoon closer to my mouth. I was embarrassed to say the least, but she was right. I was skinny, sickly skinny, and needed to gain more weight to not get sick. However, being fed by your friend is not the best way to gain more weight, besides it was embarrassing.

"I- I don't wanna-" I started, but just as I finished the word she shoved the piece of cake into my mouth. I blushed badly and felt the sweet taste of cream and vanilla fill my mouth, and when I swallowed I felt a strange stare pierce through my neck. I looked around me and saw that only two couples stared at us, so I gritted my teeth at them before I looked back at Casey.

"Casey, why did you do that? It's embarrassing!"

"Come on, we're young and we're friends! What's wrong giving each other cake?" Casey said and smiled. I sighed and took my own spoon and ate the rest of the cake in silence. Casey smiled all the time, and when we left she grabbed my arm.

"Come on Lyra, it can't be that bad?" she asked, still smiling. I wriggled out of her grip and plopped down into the car with my arms folded over my chest and my face hidden in the leather jacket's collar. Casey sighed and sat down on the drivers side and started the car, when I suddenly burst out laughing. She looked at me in confusion, and I looked at her with tears forming in the corners of my eyes.

"Did you see the look on those people's faces?" I asked between laughs. "My gosh, that was priceless!"

Casey looked at me with wide eyes, before she also started to laugh and drove out of the parking lot. I calmed down and looked at her for a second.

"Sorry if I sounded mad, Casey." I said and sat up straight. She looked at me for a second before she returned to the road.

"No prob, Lyra. I'm just surprised yer apologizing." she said and giggled. "Guess I'll learn more 'bout ya each day."

"I may act bad ass and tough, but I'm really nice once you get to know me." I said and felt a strange feeling in the back of my head. I looked at Casey when suddenly my vision went black and the strange feeling changed into pain.

I saw the image of a woman, with white hair and a red dress. She held a weapon in her hand, pointing it towards me and laughing. Blood splattered all around me, and her white hair transformed into swirling snakes that tried to grab me.

I started to scream, and the car stopped immediately. Casey looked at me with panicked eyes, and car horns were heard all around us. I looked around me with blurry eyes and finally managed to get a hold of the reality. I looked at Casey and swallowed, feeling the pain disappear.

"I- I think I... had a flashback..." I said and leaned back into the seat. Casey swallowed and looked at me in horror, before starting the car again and continued the drive.

"Ya wanna tell me 'bout it?" Casey asked, still shaken from my scream. I looked at her with tired eyes and sighed, before I started.

"I saw a woman. Her name is – or was – Magenta. She used to..." I hesitated a bit. I knew that Casey trusted me, and I trusted her. But did I trust her enough to tell her everything?

"She what?" Casey asked and looked at me. "Come on, tell me."

"She... used to torture me." I said and felt the car shake as Casey almost hit the brakes again. "And teach me how to use weapons."

"W-" Casey started but hesitated. She looked around the street and saw the red light above us and stopped the car. She took a deep breath and continued. "Why did ya learn how to use weapons?"

"I don't know." I answered honestly. "All I know is that they planned on something, something really bad, but I sabotaged their plans."

"Man..." Casey said and drove down the streets as the lights switched to green. "Yer special, ya know that? Not just 'cause yer a trained bad ass assassin, 'cause yer honest and goodhearted too."

"You sure you're not scared?" I asked and looked at her pale face. She was shaking and her hands trembled on the steering wheel, but she kept her calm.

"I'm scared." she admitted. My heart sunk to the bottom of my chest and my eyes dropped. "But I know yer a good person. Ya sabotaged the plans, right? That means yer smarter than them."

"Casey..." I said and looked at her again. She was so strong, going through so much information at once.

"I think yer an awesome pal, Lyra." Casey said and stopped the car outside her apartment. "And I think yer an awesome hero. Just keep being who ya are, and I won't ever doubt ya."

"Casey..." I said again and felt tears build up behind my eyes. I gulped to keep them down, and stepped out of the car and walked into the apartment. We didn't talk about it more that day, instead we just packed up the remaining stuff and listened to music.

I hoped and prayed for our friendship to never end.

I ran down the streets to the address Iron Man had given us, and cursed myself for being so bad at finding in the city. I finally saw a great mansion and a big green man standing in front of a gate, together with a woman.

The woman had red hair and cute freckles on her cheeks, shimmering green eyes and a slim body. She wore a typical brown office outfit, her hair in a ponytail. She held a bunch of papers in her hands and a tablet, looking at her watch and then back at Hulk.

"Well, uh," she started, seeming to feel a little awkward with Hulk being the only one around, "thank you for actually being on time. Unlike the others..."

"Hey!" I called from across the street and ran across, a few cars honking at me. "I know I'm late, got lost."

"No problem, uh, you must be Amnesia." the woman said and gave me her hand. I furrowed my eyebrows and glared at her.

"Amentia." I corrected her, Hulk rolling his eyes and smirking. The woman took back her hand and seemed surprised, but shrugged it off.

"Yes, of course. Anyway, I'm Pepper Potts, nice to meet you."

"Yeah, sure." I said and looked around me. "Where are the others?"

"Ho, miss Potts!" a male voice called from above us. I looked up and saw Thor come towards us, and a few children walking by pointed at us. "Friend Amentia and Hulk! It is good to see you again." he added once he saw us and smiled at us. He walked up close to Hulk and placed a hand on his shoulder, still smiling. "Are you ready for the upcoming battles?"

Hulk shoved his hand off and glared at him. "You ready to get a watch?"

I couldn't help but smirk at the comment, but kept my cool behind my shades. Suddenly the familiar buzzing sound of Wasp approaching made me smile.

"We're here. Sorry we're late, I had to tear Hank away from his lab." she said and looked at something next to Thor. A sudden yellow light made me gulp and soon I saw Ant-Man grow into normal human size.

"It was an important experiment." he explained and looked at us annoyed. I dropped my smile and put a hand to my hip.

"Friend Pym, I did not see you there." Thor said and looked surprised. "I expected you to be... giant."

"Really? Why?" Ant-Man asked in surprise and looked at Thor.

"Thy giant self seems more useful." Thor explained. I rolled my eyes and looked at my own watch, feeling annoyed as well as Hulk.

"Well, actually-" Ant-Man started, when Hulk finally lost his temper.

"Where's Stark?"

"Sorry, sorry everyone!" a slightly mechanic voice called from above us, and we all looked up. There came Iron Man, landing beside me and Pepper with his jet boots. "I was caught up in a meeting. Uh, actually I missed that meeting too."

Pepper first widened her eyes before she glared at him angrily. He took off his helmet, and I was shocked to say the least.

Underneath the helmet was a tanned, handsome face with warm brown eyes and dark hair. He had facial hair, a circle around his mouth with a little stubble over his chin line. His face was fine and smooth, with two strands of hair falling over his forehead.

"Anyway!" he said and snapped me out of my hypnosis. I can't say I didn't find him attractive, but something about him made me a little less affected by his good looks. "Thanks for coming, and welcome to the Avengers mansion!"

I looked closer at the tall building and noticed something familiar about it, not knowing what. It was indeed a beautiful building, with many windows and a high roof on the bottom floor.

"Looks cool." I said simply.

"This was my-" Iron Man started, when Hulk suddenly smashed the gates open and walked inside. I stared at him as he continued the walk and laughed like a lunatic on the inside.

"You know, that was really rude!" Iron Man complained, but I just patted his shoulder to remind him of who he was talking about before I myself walked inside.

Once we came closer to the mansion I saw a dial on the wall. Thor was the first to look at the machine, when it suddenly talked.

"Greetings, Thor Odinson. May I offer you a drink?" the voice said, sounding like a butler.

"What manner of palace is this?" Thor asked in shock and looked back at us. I smirked at him and looked closer at the little camera.

"This was a museum for the Maria Stark foundation, my mother's home." Iron Man, or Tony Stark as I had been told, explained and gestured to small details all over the entrance.

The walls were a soft brown color, with marble columns and a vault for the roofs. Wide windows let the sunlight fill the room with a soft, warm light and gave the room an elegant touch. There was a massive staircase on the opposite side of the room from the door and a hallway to the left. The floor had white and dark blue tiles, creating a checkered pattern with a fancy 'A' in the middle. A few decorations, such as vases and flower pots were scattered inside the room and made it feel more welcoming.

"I've had it upgraded since the breakout. I thought this could be our headquarters." Tony continued and smiled proudly. I heard Wasp flap her wings and saw her tiny silhouette fly up towards the ceiling.

"Swanky." she said and sounded excited. I took a good look around me and I had to confess: it was actually good work.

"The mansion is run by Jarvis, my personal artificial intelligence." Tony continued and looked at the little pad on the wall. "Anything you need, Jarvis will provide. Say hello, Jarvis."

"Indeed." Jarvis said and made a couple of lights in the pad shine in a pattern as he spoke. I smirked and looked around me again and noticed that the tour was continuing.

"We've got a full kitchen, chef on call..." Tony said as he showed us a hyper modern kitchen with hundreds of different utensils. I heard a sickening sound come from the fridge and looked over to see Hulk grab food and devour it in a single mouthful. Wasp flew over to him and landed on his shoulder, making a sick face as he burped and ate more.

"Honestly," I whispered to Ant-Man, "I don't think Hulk needs one."

We then walked on to a hallway with bedrooms lined up. I counted them to be twelve, and got my thoughts confirmed once Tony continued his tour guiding.

"There are twelve bedrooms, maid service, laundry, room service..." Tony rambled and showed me, Ant-Man and Wasp through the corridor. I looked into one of the rooms and saw Thor lay on a bed with his hands clasped over his stomach.

"... a theater slash launch." Tony continued as we walked into the living room area. I looked to my right and saw the main hall from the open door vault. Wasp grew into normal size on the couch and grabbed the remote and pressed a button eagerly. The painting on the wall moved upwards and revealed a flat screen, showing a children's cartoon with two fishes, one hitting the other in the head.

"Satellite TV and movies, every form of video entertainment on the planet." Tony finished and looked at me for an unknown reason. He smiled and seemed to look for an impressed face, but I kept my solid hard normal face on. His face dropped, and Ant-Man stated his mind.

"Are you serious, Stark?" he asked a little confused and underwhelmed. "This is what you spent a week preparing?"

"Uh, no, I haven't gotten to the good stuff yet." Tony said a little annoyed, and Pepper walked up to him with a red, white and black card to him. It had a big blue 'A' on it and a small black square on it, that suddenly showed Tony's face on it.

"You're gonna need these. These ID-card are linked to the Stark Industries satellite network, they will keep us in audio and video communications anywhere in the world. They also give you access and full control of the mansion."

Pepper gave each one of us a card, and I looked at it with a raised eyebrow. Suddenly my screen lit up and I saw Thor's face way too close for the camera. I looked at the poor Asgardian and patted his shoulder before I showed him how to hold the card and turn it on and off. He smiled at me and mouthed a 'thank you friend' before he continued to stare at the card.

"I can show you how i- oh..." Pepper started, but was cut off when Hulk grabbed the card and glared at her.

"You think I can't figure it out?" Hulk snapped at her. I looked at him and saw Pepper tremble a little, feeling a little discomforted by his comment.

"I'm sure you can!" Pepper defended herself, before Thor got annoyed and walked up to the green man.

"It would be wise to treat the lady with respect." he said with a cold voice and glared into Hulk's green eyes.

"Which lady you'd mean, blondie?" Hulk asked and leaned down to face the Asgardian. I felt the air vibrate around them and felt a chill down my spine, when Tony interrupted and cleared his throat. The open fireplace behind him suddenly lifted and revealed a secret passage behind it.

"Nifty!" Wasp said and shrunk again, flying into the passage with wide excited eyes. I took off my glasses to see better, and saw the glass walls around us and the elevator platform taking us further down below the building.

"And voila! The sub-levels." Tony said and made another proud gesture, once again looking at me for a response. I kept my hard face on and felt annoyance build up inside of me.

_Why does he keep looking at me when he do that_? I asked myself inside my head and looked back at the glass wall.

We entered another main hall and was met with hundreds of machines in different sizes and colors, me not even knowing what the on-switch was. There was another blue 'A' on the floor, and metallic walls and floor stretching for many yards.

"The mansion's got a beyond state of the arts science lab, space for Hank's modular labs as well as my armory." Tony said and gestured to the machines around us. I looked back at Ant-Man, seeing a satisfied grin play on his lips. We continued to walk until we came up to a platform in sturdy metal. Before us laid a great pool of water, seeming to be many yards across, maybe even a mile.  
"Wow, big pool." Wasp said and leaned a little too far out for me not to flinch, but she was okay holding on to the rails on the sides.

"Actually, the pool's on the roof." Tony said. "This, is a fully functional hangar, with two prototype high speed aerial shuttles. The Quin Jets."

A white and red aircraft rose from an opening in the pool, with yellow toned glass for the cockpit and a hatch at the back. A handful of weapons and a shield suddenly exited from well hidden places on the craft, which actually made me open my mouth slightly. I remembered that I was crazy about big airplanes and different vehicles and weapons even when I was a kid. It was like Christmas eve for me.

"Weapons, shields, and air speed of mock 8. for those of us who can't fly long distances." Tony explained, receiving angry glares from Hulk and Ant-Man for being insulted. "But they can go to space too."

When he saw my open mouth and fascinated face he seemed a little more satisfied. I looked at him and finally allowed myself to show emotions. I gave of a low whistle and folded my arms over my chest.

"I've got to admit, Stark. I'm impressed." I said, getting a strange look from Hulk. I just smirked and looked at the Quin Jet again.

"Glad you like it." Tony said and turned around. "Then, there's the training room."

"What, like a gym?" Wasp asked and folded her hands behind her back again. I looked at Tony with a neutral face again, and was met with a tricky smile.

"Kind of."

I entered a pitch black room and felt hard metal against my feet. I looked around me for any sign of light or people inside, but only felt a strange tingling feeling in the back of my head. I looked behind me and saw a red circle moving towards me. I used my boot and kicked it against the metal floor, creating a spark that sent a quick flash of light through the room.

A mechanic arm with a circle in the palm of its hand flashed a stern light in my face, and when the light from the spark I created faded I felt something grab me by my waist. I held back a yelp and crushed the hand with my fist, before I manage to wriggle out of it and run towards the exit. However, two more hands appeared and flew towards me in a high speed.

I kicked the both of them and continued to run, when a third arm grabbed me from behind and pressed my face against the floor.

Suddenly something above me crashed, and the roof of the room broke and revealed a giant foot. Light from the room above blinded me, and when my vision cleared up I saw Giant-Man's face.

"You okay, Amentia?" he asked and removed the hand from my chest. I took a deep breath and coughed a few times before he helped me up.

"Yeah, some bruises maybe." I said and stepped onto his hand. He helped me up to his level, where the wall next to his head opened up and revealed Hulk and Wasp.

We then continued the tour onto a thick door, which Pepper opened with her own ID-card. I looked into the damp lit room and saw a holographic monitor on the floor, in the shape of a table. The 'A' was printed on it, and a spotlight shone straight on it. The walls were cloaked in dark glass, with small diodes behind them to create a weak blue dot on the dark surface on some places.

"Ooh!" Wasp said and walked into the room with a wide smile.

"And this is the Assembly Hall." Tony said and motioned for me to go inside. I did and looked around me with squinted eyes and removed my shades so I could see anything in the dim light. My purple eyes reflected in the dark glass and the diodes made them even brighter.

"All the money you've thrown into this is very impressive, Tony." Ant-Man said from behind us, and I saw his reflection in the dark surface. "We aboard, are we your new pet project... why are we here?"

"That's a good question, kind of angry, but that's okay..." Tony said and followed us inside. Thor, Wasp and Ant-Man placed themselves by the table, Tony and Pepper close behind. However, I stood frozen by the glass. Something held me there, like if a part of me told me there was something important to see.

"Jarvis, bring up the most wanted list." Tony said to the A.I. and looked at the pillar of faces on the rotating screen. "74 super villains escaped the day of the break out. Graviton's being held by SHIELD, we caught Mandrill. But we've got more work to do."

Suddenly, like an explosion, my vision lit up and a frame of light placed itself around the corners of my vision. I flinched and looked around me, but nobody else seemed to notice. I looked at Hulk, who was too focused on talking to his reflection that fluttered...

_Wait_, I thought, _why is his reflection fluttering_?

I focused my gaze at his reflection and saw that it changed shape, between him and a shorter and skinnier man dressed in a blue hoodie and purple pants. His face was thin and narrow, and his chin was covered in stubble. His hair was messy and light brown, like his eyes.

What the hell is going on? I thought and squinted my eyes a couple of times before it returned to Hulk's image.

"If we do recapture them all, where do we put them?" Ant-Man asked. "The Big House is destroyed, the Vault is destroyed, we haven't heard anything about the Cube."

"Don't forget that secret prison that they didn't even tell us about." I said and walked up to them and placed my hands on the red frame of the holographic projector. "Where Graviton was originally held."

"I'm working with a colleague on something now. Reid Richards has proposed a prison that's actually outside this dimension, in a place he calls the 'Negative Zone'."

"Too much talking. We should just go get these guys." Hulk interrupted and cracked his knuckle against the palm of his hand.

"I agree with him." I said and leaned into myself. "This 'Negative Zone' sound like a great idea."

"We don't even know what caused the breakout in the first place! What's to stop it from happening there?" Ant-Man protested and looked at Tony with squinted eyes. Wasp yawned and looked at me.

"Uh, you know, maybe we should call it a day, then concentrate on beating up some bad guys tomorrow?"

"Once again, I agree." I said and placed a hand to my hip. "We can't do any good if we're tired and grumpy."

"At least some of you know what they're doing." Hulk muttered and started to walk away, when Thor clenched his fist in anger. I looked at them both and felt a chill down my spine, predicting a fight on the way.

"I have had enough of you, creature!" Thor said and walked up to Hulk. "Your insults end here!"

"You wanna go, Goldie locks? Let's go!" Hulk said and glared into Thor's eyes. I walked up to them and took off my shades before I placed myself between them. Tony stood in front of me, a little further away from them than I was. I glared at both of them and received shocked looks as they saw my eyes.

"Whoa, okay! How about instead of 'going' we find a way to actually get along?" Tony suggested. "Since you two and Amentia are the only ones staying at the mansion full time, I'd appreciate it if you didn't level the place on day one."

Hulk snorted and walked away, angry. I sighed and looked as Thor walked back to the holographic table, while Tony and I just stood there.

"Wow." Wasp said. "He's gonna be fun."

"At least you're not sleeping under the same roof as them from now on." I muttered and looked at Thor. I meant them both when I said that.

I had lost track of time when I walked up to my room. I laid on my bed, feeling my head throb and my eyes burn for an unknown reason. I tried closing my eyes, opening them again, closing them, carefully roll them, but something made them still hurt. I rose into a sitting position when I heard Hulk walk out of his room a few doors away from mine. I looked out the window and then I looked at the mirror.

Suddenly, my eyes started to burn again and a tear rolled down my cheek. I looked at the mirror in confusion and dried the tear away. I rose to my feet and walked up to the mirror, feeling the burning grow stronger. I carefully looked into the glass and placed a hand to the smooth, cool surface and looked into my purple orbs.

Once again, like if an explosion occurred inside my head, my vision lit up and a frame of light laid itself around the corners of my vision.

The shape of a tall woman with long hair and a slim, curvy body appeared in front of me. Her eyes glowed in an evil green light, but the rest of her was concealed in the shadows. Suddenly another flash of green light hit me, and I snapped out of my vision and heard a voice come from downstairs.

"Friend Amentia!"

I opened my door and saw Thor stand in front of me with his hammer in his hand. I flinched and put my shades on again, looking into his clear blue eyes.

"I was asleep." I lied and ruffled my hair. "What's wrong?"

"The creature have left the mansion, and Ms Potts wish me to retrieve it." Thor said, with a sour venomous tone to his voice. I figured that they had started a fight again, and quickly put my hair up in a ponytail and checked that I had my knuckledusters in my pockets.

"I'm coming." I said before I sent him a glare from over my shades. "But remember; this is your fault."

We had just left the main entrance when a scream was heard from down the street. I looked at Thor with furrowed eyebrows, before I started to run after the screams. Thor flew above me and hurried past me, and before I knew it I saw the two of them on the street in front of me. Suddenly, Hulk punched Thor square in the chest and sent him hurtling into a construction site. I sighed and watched as the two of them started to fight, and picked up my ID-card.

"Come in Pepper." I said and looked at the card and the little black screen. Her face appeared and I sighed.

"Pepper, I need you to tell Tony we've got problems." I explained and saw her face drop. "Big problems."

"Okay, I'll send backup." she said and ended the conversation.

I looked at the two fighters and followed them all the way to Central Park, where Thor sent Hulk into a statue. Hulk charged at Thor again and grabbed him by his waist before he tackled him into a tree and sent him flying several yards into the trees.

"Hulk, stop!" I heard a voice call. I jumped up in the air and saw Wasp fly in front of Hulk and Thor lay on his back. I landed next to Thor and crouched next to him, and Wasp continued to try and reach Hulk.

"Why are you doing this? You need to calm down, we're not attacking you-" Wasp began, when Thor suddenly punched Hulk in the face.

"Well I guess Thor is."

"Thor!" I said and placed myself in front of him. "Come on, stop fighting."

"That creature has insulted too many to escape Mjolnir's wrath." Thor said and looked at me with furious eyes. I kicked him in an attempt to get his attention.

"You're only hurting innocent people and a friend if you fight him. Get real!" I snapped at him. "I know you're a warrior, but doesn't pride and allies mean anything to you?"

I heard Iron Man approach from above and looked up at the armored man, who tried to reach Hulk. Hulk however grabbed his head and smashed him into the ground, and Wasp distracted him with her zaps. Iron Man rose to his feet again and brushed off some dirt.

"There's some kind of weird energy around the Hulk." he said and looked at us. "Thor, it's similar to what your hammer gives off."

"It is dark magic." Thor said and furrowed his eyebrows. "The Hulk has been enchanted."

I looked at his hammer and felt the exploding feeling in my head again, and the frame of light laid itself around my vision. I took off my shades and saw a faint light come from Thor's hammer, and when I looked at Hulk I saw a stronger light linger around his head.

"You're right, I can see it too." I said and placed my shades over my eyes again. "But what can we do?"

Hulk charged at us again, but a giant hand grabbed him and held him against the ground. I looked up and saw Giant-Man's face, smirking at us.

"I'm guessing that this isn't a team building exercise." he said jokingly, when he suddenly changed his face and looked puzzled and shocked. He was thrown down on the ground on his back and created a large man-print in the forest around him. Hulk jumped up on his head from his arm, and I followed him. Thor charged at him first, but Hulk grabbed his cape and whirled him around before he threw him away. Giant-Man raised his arms and tried to get the green 10 feet tall man off of his head, but Iron Man was the first to approach him. However, Hulk held out his arm and knocked him into the trees below. I had climbed up to Giant-Man's shoulder by then and saw Hulk jump down next to me and punch him in his face, knocking him unconscious. He fell to the ground out cold, and I landed next to his head with a crash. I tried to sit up, but I was too shaken from the impact to do anything beside breathing.

"Get away from him!" I heard Wasp cry from above me, and saw her buzz around Hulk and zap him until he smashed her between his hands.

"NO!" I cried and sprinted up in the air. I was about to kick him in his face when he grabbed my foot and swung me down into Giant-Man's chest, where I lost my breathe and remained. I looked up at him and saw him raise his fist to smash Wasp into tiny pieces, but suddenly, he hesitated. He carefully placed her down on Giant-Man's chest as well and sent me an apologetic look, before he jumped away from the scene. I rose to a sitting position after rearranging my bones and muscles to their rightful places, and looked at Wasp that landed on my shoulder. Giant-Man lifted his head a little and looked at us.

"That went well." Iron Man said ironically and looked at us. "Is everyone o- GAAAH!"

I looked at him and saw a huge battleaxe pierce his armor. I paled and trembled before I ran towards them. Suddenly my feet were bound together by a weird green string of clouds or something alike.

"The Avengers. How... unimpressive." a female voice said. I looked up and saw the same venomous eyes and body shape as when I looked into the mirror. Her long blonde hair reached to her hip and her green suit lifted her feminine forms and made her eyes shine even more. She was beautiful on the outside, but her inside was probably as dark and ugly like any human's.

"You would better hope someone more capable chooses to avenge _you_." she finished. I looked at Iron Man and saw his armor shut down, my heart dropping to the bottom of my chest.

I crawled closer to them since my legs were bound, and saw Thor pull his hand back with a painful expression on his face. I looked at his hammer and saw a glimpse of the green light again, and the hand of the woman.

"You!" I said and managed to crawl up on my knees. "I've seen you before! In the mansion!"

"Wait, what?" Iron Man asked from under the big warriors foot. _Good, that means he's still alive_. I thought and sent him a quick glance.

"How dare you attack us Enchantress?" Thor said and stood up with clenched fists. I looked at him and saw pure anger burn from his eyes, and stared between him and the woman.

"Wait, wait, wait; you know these people, Thor?" Iron Man asked.

"Aye," Thor answered and lowered his head to send a more threatening glare to the woman, "the Enchantress and her Executioner. They are Asgardians. Why have you come here, Amora?"

The woman, Enchantress, smiled and tapped her fingers against her thigh, creating a green spark in the air. "Oh, you love Midgard so much, thunderer, we thought we would come and see what all the fuzz is about."

She created a green beam of magic and sent it into his face, throwing him back a few yards into a tree. She then walked up to me and grabbed me by my hair. I held back a painful cry and just glared at her as I searched for footing.

"And I have been longing to see what the forgotten one looks like." she whispered, only so I could hear her. I widened my eyes in confusion and shock, before she let me go and looked at the man behind her, the Executioner. He lifted his ax over his head and aimed for Iron Man, and my pupils narrowed.

"Oh this is gonna hurt." Tony said from inside the suit, and I could imagine him closing his eyes for a second. Suddenly the sound of Wasp's zaps echoed through the park, and the Executioner stepped away from Iron Man. The Executioner focused entirely on Wasp and didn't notice Giant-Man that approached and aimed his fist for him. He missed and the Executioner created a fire ball and sent it for his face. Giant-Man shrunk to human size and fell to the ground, killing the fire but got stomped at by the Executioner. Wasp buzzed above Iron Man's head and talked to him, but I couldn't hear what she said as Enchantress talked to me.

"Now mortal, stay still or your friends will get hurt."

I looked at her and did as she said, since I couldn't find any opportunity of escaping or fighting her. I looked in panic as she wrapped Wasp in the same kind of magic as she had done to me, and looked at the Executioner.

"The giant man first," she said, "his head will make a good trophy on my wall."

I looked at Ant-Man and saw his unconscious face against the ground and paled. I heard Wasp call his name, but she didn't get any response. I wriggled in the grip of the magic cloud and looked at the Enchantress, when suddenly a dust cloud formed around her. I heard the heavy breathing from a massive, familiar green man and looked around me.

"Hulk!" I said when I saw his face through the cloud and rose to my feet. I was more than happy that he had come back.

Hulk roared at the Executioner, and as he did I felt the grip around me loosen. I stretched my arms before I looked at the enemies around me. Enchantress was knocked to the ground and the hammer Mjolnir returned to Thor's hand. A swirl of clouds and thunder formed above us and hit his hammer, before it disappeared again.

"I do not fear your lightning, Odin's son. Your magic is nothing against mine." Enchantress said and rose to her feet, glaring at Thor.

"You were not my target, witch." Thor said, and Iron Man rose behind him. A few sparks lingered across his armor, before he flew up into the air to evade a strike from the Executioner. He then shot a beam on the warrior, with double the power that sent him hurtling towards the Enchantress. I quickly jumped out of the way and placed myself crouching in front of Thor.

"Take them down!" Iron Man said and charged forward, the rest of us except knocked out Ant-Man followed suit.

Hulk, Wasp and I headed for the Executioner. Hulk punched his ax and made him back off, before Wasp hailed him with zaps. I jumped up in the air and aimed an aerial kick towards his head, but he took the impact with the ax before he sent me hurtling into Hulk. He caught me before he put me down and charged at him again. The Executioner suddenly changed the attribute of the ax and created a path of ice towards us, but I jumped up in the air again and looked at Hulk who was frozen solid. The Executioner then hit him in his side and sent him flying into the forest.

I aimed another aerial kick towards him, and Wasp distracted him with her zaps so that I could land a hit. He wobbled and took a step back, me landing in front of him. I cracked my knuckles against the palm of my hand before I punched him straight in the jaw, making him take a step back again. I aimed a third punch when he used the flat of the ax and shoved me into a tree.

He then aimed for Hulk again and hit him hard in the head. Wasp and I tried to distract him long enough for Hulk to recover. The Executioner shielded himself with the side of his ax, but when he lowered his guard looked at us. When he did, Hulk punched him square in the face and sent him flying to the other end of the park. I looked at Hulk with a grin and saw his grin too for a second, before a something seemed to trouble him.

My vision changed again and I removed my shades, and I saw a green veil cloak his head. I saw the same kind of veil cover Enchantress face.

"Hulk!" I called and looked into his eyes. "You're being controlled again! Snap out of it!"

He grabbed his head and widened his eyes in anger, before he cried out.

"No one, controls, the HULK!" He then smashed the ground and created a rocky path heading towards Enchantress. She was thrown of her feet and landed clumsily. Thor and Iron Man rose to the sky and sent a lightning and a beam in her direction, knocking her out cold. Thor, Iron Man and I walked up to her body and looked at her for a second.

_Damn it_, I thought angrily. _I need her to answer my questions. How did she know me? Why did she call me 'the forgotten one'? What else did she know about me?_

"Watch out!" Wasp called from behind Thor, and I looked behind me before something sharp hit my side and shoved me aside. Thor and Iron Man landed close to me, before the Executioner took Enchantress and tossed her over his shoulder and opened a portal with his ax. They then disappeared into nothingness, and we were all left dumbstruck.

I rose into a sitting position and saw that the Executioner had ripped an open wound to my side, not too bad but still enough to cause me pain.

"Ah..." Ant-Man moaned from behind us. "Does somebody wanna explain what that was all about?"

"Old enemies from Asgard." Thor started to explain. "The Enchantress has ever found joy in causing me pain."

Thor then walked up to Hulk and Iron Man, and placed a hand on Hulk's shoulder with a kind smile on his face. "You have won the day, friend Hulk. Truly, thou are a warrior to be reckoned with. For few can resist the Enchantress' charms."

"Nothing's changed." Hulk said and removed Thor's hand. "You all thought I was a savage monster. You were gonna take me down. You're no different than Ross and SHIELD. Except their honest 'bout it."

"What was that?" I said and rose to my feet wobbly.

"Hulk, it's not like that." Wasp said and supported me.

"We're not gonna take you down. Hulk, you're our friend." I said and laid an arm around Wasp's shoulder before I attempted to take a step forward.

"I'm done." Hulk said and jumped away from us. I looked after him in sadness and sighed, before I heard the others come closer to me.

"Okay, so, not the most promising day two." Iron Man said as he walked up to us.

Well back at the mansion I plopped down on my bed with the first aid kit on the nightstand next to me. I opened it and unzipped my vest to reveal the open wound. It wasn't too bad but taking care of it would probably sting a bit.

I started to clean the wound and clenched my teeth in pain. While taking care of it and preparing a needle and a thin thread with disinfection fluid, I started to think through my life.

I woke up in a coffin on a truck on the way into nowhere from New York. The men on board the truck were armed even though they thought I was dead. They tried to kill me when I got out of the coffin. They shot at me when I fought them and ran.

I was able to do things I never thought I would be able to. One thing was for sure; I wasn't human. A normal human would never be able to fly... or like I did, soar on invisible platforms made of air. Something inside of me told me that I was beyond human, but still not inhuman. Like if I was half-half.

I was a half blood, human and something else. That certain memory struck me like a bolt and made me flinch, pointing my side with the needle. I drew a deep breath through me teeth and looked at the red blood coming out from my now two wounds, and quickly wiped it up with a ball of cotton.

My head got all fuzzy and dizzy, and I had to wrap it up before I fainted. I made the last stitch and tied the thread together, before I put a bandage over it all and laid down to sleep.

_Why can't I remember everything?_ I thought and looked at the first aid kit next to me. _Why can I do things no one else can? Why did they want to kill me? Why are my eyes different? _

I fell asleep quickly, and dreamed about the things I did remember. The unpleasant dreams.


	4. Chapter 4: Living Legend

Chapter 4: _Living Legend_

I was sleeping in late, but I slowly woke up and laid down in my bed waiting for something to happen. Before I knew it, Wasp was knocking on my door shouting my name.

"Amentia, wake up! We're leaving soon!"

I hurried up and quickly washed myself before I put on some fresh clothes, my second of five reserve outfits as Amentia. I looked at the wound in the mirror and saw that it was already healing properly, to my surprise.

We all hurried to the first Quin jet and started the engines. Ant-Man, Wasp and I sat inside the cockpit while Thor and Iron Man chose to fly beside us.

Wasp hurried inside first and grabbed the wheel, while Ant-Man sat next to her. I sat behind her, feeling a little nervous about having her drive.

"This is the coolest thing I've ever done! I'm driving a jet!" Wasp said and smiled.

"It's actually on autopilot, Wasp. Sorry." Iron Man said through the communicator again and made me smirk. I leaned closer to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "The fishermen were pointing at that crater. What is that, Ant-Man, a meteor hit?"

"No," Ant-Man answered through the communicator, "that's the Hulk throwing a tantrum."

I leaned back in the seat with my arms behind my head and my left foot resting on my right knee, me humming on a song I heard a few days before and waited for an explanation, and finally Ant-Man started talking to me.

"Right, we never told you about it... Tony found a trace of where the Hulk is, so were going after him to convince him to come back with us."

"Good job Tony." I said a little sarcastically. "And how exactly are you planning to do that? It's not like big green to just listen to small talk."

We landed close to the crater, and Wasp and I exited the jet. Wasp flew and I jumped from one chunk of ice to another, following her suit. I wasn't as fast as her though, but still saw her in front of me.

"Okay, if this is some kind of evil snow monster, I'm going to be-" Wasp began in front of me and turned her head, when she suddenly crashed into something. I landed next to her and looked at whatever she had bumped into and felt a memory flash in front of my eyes.

"- ticked. Never mind." Wasp finished and just stared at the phenomenon in front of her. I heard the sound of Iron Man's steel feet land behind us and felt Thor's cape flap me on my ear. I removed my shades and looked at the star marked shield in front of me.

"Tony... that's... that's..." Wasp began, but bit her tongue. I took a better look at it and saw the blue suit inside the ice chunk, the white star over his chest, the white and red stripes over his waist and the red gloves and boots.

"Captain America. And according to my armor... he's alive." Iron Man said in shock.

"W- what the hell are we waiting for?" I asked and stuttered on my own words. "We need to get him inside the jet and heat him up!"

Tony and Thor immediately began working and managed to carve out the frozen man before they carefully carried him to the jet, where Jan grabbed the wheels again and started the autopilot again. Ant-Man and I started to carefully remove the biggest chunks of ice and started a few machines to check his pulse, his blood pressure, brain activity and so forth.

"This is incredible." Ant-Man said and took a better look at the man. "He's waking up."

"How's his heart rate?" I asked and looked at his blue cold skin. His eyes fluttered and struggled to open up, but he was still in such a bad shape it was hard for him.

"Is his brain okay?" Wasp asked from the cockpit and sent us a quick look. I checked again and nodded in her direction.

"Come on Captain, don't leave us now." I begged and received a strange look from Thor, but I ignored his look and prepared a needle with a liquid painkiller. Ant-Man leaned over Captain to make sure he was okay, and tried to talk with him.

"Captain, are you okay?" he asked slowly, loud enough for all of us to hear. Suddenly Captain's eyes opened up wide and revealed his clear ice blue eyes. They were blurry and filled with panic.

"BUCKY!" he yelled and smacked Ant-Man in the face with his shield. He then jerked up and kicked Thor in the chest and sent them both crashing into the seats close by the table where he laid. He jumped up and landed with his hands on the long side of the table before he looked at Iron Man and me standing on the other side of it.

"Whoa, whoa, wait, everything's- ugh!" Iron Man started when Captain pushed the table into his chest and pressed him against the wall behind him. I was fast enough to jump up on the table and made a handstand somersault and landed behind him. I placed a hand on the wall behind me and looked at the panicking man.

"Okay, Captain, you're safe! You're with friends!" Tony tried to explain as his guts were pressed up against his lungs.

"What are you? Some kind of Hydra automaton? And you?" he asked lastly and looked at me with narrowed eyes. "Are you one of their freak experiments?"

"Thanks, that warmed." I said and pouted. "And no, I'm not."

"Listen, you've been frozen in ice for decades!" Iron Man explained, but the man only gave him another glare.

"You're creative, I'll give you that. Now where have you taken me? Where's Bucky?" Captain continued and pressed the table closer to Iron Man's chest.

"Calm yourself, Captain." Thor said and walked up next to Captain and placed a hand on his shoulder. "As the robot says, you are among friends."

Captain still ignored the words and grabbed his hand before he threw him over his shoulder into Ant-Man, sending them crashing into the control board in the cockpit. It exploded, and the jet went out of control. The hangar door opened, and I heard Iron Man struggle to catch up with the Captain that jumped out. I looked at the passed out heroes in front and the panicking female by the steering wheels, and rushed over to them.

"Jan," I yelled over the ruckus, "keep the balance of this thing!"

"I can't!" she said and tried to move the wheel. "I don't know how!"

I sighed and dropped Thor to the floor with a little too much force, and his helmet made a ringing sound. I clenched my teeth and knew that he would be mad at me later. I jumped up and placed my arms a little uncomfortably over Wasp's chest and tried to hold the jet up in the air, even though to the burning engine and the open hatch. However, it only lasted for long enough to let everyone get out before it crashed into the waters outside Liberty island. Once Wasp and Ant-Man had gotten out, along with Thor that had a bad headache due to a strange ringing inside his helmet, I crashed and jumped out just in time to not be swallowed by the deep waters.

I swam as fast as I could to the surface and took a deep breathe as I finally reached it. I then felt a hand around my upper arm and looked up to see Thor give me a friendly smirk. I smirked back and made sure I had my shades on, not really knowing why they were so important, but they were there.

"Captain America!" Iron Man called from above, and I saw his red and yellow armor shine in the high sun. "Stand down! You really need to come with us."

Captain still didn't listen and launched his shield at him, knocking him into the Statue of Liberty before he fell down to the ground. Captain ran towards the city when Wasp and I came down to him and tried to reason with him.

"Hey, we don't wanna to fight you, we just try to help you!" Wasp said and flew up next to him.

"Just stop and listen already!" I said and kicked him in his back. I soared just above ground and saw him notice with a flinch.

"What are you, ladies? Some of Zemo's experiments?" he asked and just stared at us.

"What? No I'm... well, it's complicated." Wasp sighed and gestured with her hands.

"The same goes for me, but what's important is that we're _not_ Hydra agents, or whatever you said." I snapped and landed beside him with my hands on my hips. "So just-"

"Stand aside, friends!" Thor called from above our heads, and when I looked up I saw him raise his hammer and aim a throw for Captain America.

"Thor, no!" Wasp yelled, but she was ignored. I was glued to where I stood as my head quickly made the math; I would also be hit no matter what I did, I was too close to get out of range from the hit and had nowhere to run.

Suddenly a strong arm clad in a blue scaly suit with a red and white shield covered me from the hit, and when the sparks subsided he swiped him off his feet and knocked him down. I hurried away from him before he would hit me, but he grabbed my arm and readied a punch for my face. I prepared for an impact when something giant rose from the water behind us and reached its hands after him. I wriggled out of my grip and made a backflip with a kick against his side. It wasn't powerful, but it would temporarily paralyze him so that I could get to a safer distance from him. I then looked up at Giant-Man that had risen behind us.

"Sir, we really need to get you to a hospital." he said and looked down at him. I heard a few snaps behind me and turned around to see a small ferry to the island, with a lot of tourists on it taking pictures to the albums.

_Great_, I thought, _now I'm definitely gonna get unwanted attention_.

"Okay, enough!" Iron Man said as he flew down to us. "You have to come with us! You don't understand; this is _not_ 1943."

"He is a warrior, Stark." Thor said, his voice dripping with a warriors lust to fight. "He will not yield-"

"You've got that right, buddy!" Captain said and launched his shield again. He aimed for Iron Man, but he dodged it and watched as it hit the ferry behind him. The tourists ran away as it bounced back at Thor, before he jumped at Iron Man and tackled him down on the ground. Iron Man instinctively fired a beam, however he missed the target and hit Giant-Man in the face and knocked him down into the water. He then stepped on the shield and grabbed it with his hand, holding it firmly by his lower arm.

I looked at Wasp buzzing around my ears and saw her motion with her hands, asking me if she should zap him. I nodded and looked at her as she zapped him, before he turned with determent eyes.

"Sorry, sorry!" Wasp apologized and gestured with her hands. "But I need you to listen."

"My apologies miss, but this soldier doesn't listen to Hydra-agents. He just takes them down." Captain said and glared at her. I sighed and walked up to him and saw him flinch and prepare for whatever I would charge at him with.

"When is it gonna go through to your thick icy skull? We're _not_ Hydra-agents!" I snapped and tapped a finger on my own head in annoyance. He just narrowed his eyes, and I clenched my fists. All I wanted to do was punch that blue clad annoying man straight over his jaw and knock him out for good, but Wasp stopped me by pulling a strand of my hair.

"Fine, don't listen, just look!" Wasp said and showed Captain the way up a staircase behind us. He hesitated a little as I followed her, but then he followed us. As we walked up the stairs I saw a statue and recognized the faces immediately, but my heart sank to the bottom of my chest. I heard Captain come after us and stepped away so he could get a better look.

The statue was a replica of him and his sidekick from the forties, Bucky. On the statue his suit was in one piece, and Bucky waved at something. Under them were the text 'In honored memory of Captain America and Bucky.'

I looked behind me and saw the others get up and look at him as well. Iron Man took a few steps closer and opened his helmet to reveal his face.

"You've been gone a long time, Captain." he said and placed a hand on his shoulder. Captain looked at him before he looked at me on his other side. I placed a hand on his upper arm and tried to smile, but it was hard when his sadness and confusion was so clear.

"Welcome back."

We entered the hangar in the Quin jet, fortunately it was self repairing. I sat by the wheel as the auto pilot was a lot harder to repair than the rest of it, but it wasn't a problem. During the whole trip, Captain America looked out the window at today's New York while Iron Man and Wasp tried to explain a few things to him. Ant-Man checked up on him, blood pressure and so forth. I sighed once and drew Thor's attention to me.

"Is anything troubling you, friend Lyra?" he asked and looked at me. I looked back at him with a tired smile.

"Nothing, just exhausted, no- wait, what did you call me?"

"Friend Lyra. Or should I perhaps call you ms Lewis?" he asked and looked a little confused. I looked at the sky before me and saw the mansion close by, and swiftly landed.

"No, that doesn't matter, I just... how did you know my name?" I asked with a shocked expression. Honestly, I was pretty surprised.

"That's my fault, sorry." Iron Man said and looked at me. "I took the liberty to search your personal files, and I just might have told the others about your name."

"Well thanks a lot, Mr Stark." I said jokingly and landed the jet. We all walked out and looked at Captain America who gazed through the building.

"So we won the war?" he asked.

"Thanks apart for you." Iron Man said and smiled. I suddenly felt a chill down my spine and looked around to see a strange shadow on the wall. It didn't move, but I couldn't figure if it was me causing it or something else. I removed my shades and looked at it, and suddenly my vision brightened and the frame of light laid itself around the corners of it. The shadow seemed to change, but then I just saw the wall and shrugged it off.

"So Hydra's gone?" Captain asked.

"Uh, it's... uh, complicated." Tony said and made me sigh again. _Why does everything have to be complicated all the time_? I asked myself and looked around me as well. "I've had Jarvis prepare a room for you until we get everything's sorted out. You've been gone a very long time Cap."

"Welcome back, sir." Jarvis said and made Captain flinch and look around him. Thor leaned a little closer to him and whispered.

"The building has its own voice. It is very disconcerting." he whispered and made me snicker a little. Now we had two guys on the team that didn't know a thing about computers.

We walked into the assembly hall and towards the holographic table, where Tony inserted his ID- card and accessed a special file.

"There's something I have to show you." he said to Captain, who came a little closer to the table. "My dad used to tell me stories about you when I was a kid. You were an inspiration to me."

The headline on the picture was bold, and the paper looked a little old and roughed up.

"Captain America fallen! And a nation's heart fall with him." it said and showed a picture of him. I looked at it with wide eyes and then glanced over at him.

"That's... some poor reporting. But if I survived, maybe Bucky-" Captain started, but Tony laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry Cap." he said calmly. "Every kid in school learns that Captain America and Bucky sacrificed their lives to stop the Red Skull. It's a miracle you survived."

Captain America lowered his head and looked sad and confused again. I took a deep breathe and turned so I faced him and kept a cool emotionless face.

"Bucky's gone." Captain said. "Everyone I ever knew. My whole world. It's all gone, isn't it?" He took his shield and removed it from his arm, before he laid it on the table and walked out of the room. I looked after him and felt the tension in the air grow stronger.

"Cap!" Wasp called from behind us, but before she had a chance to go after him Ant-Man grabbed her arm.

"Give him some time, Jan." he said and looked into her eyes. I removed my shades and looked at the black glass around us for a second and looked at my eyes. They were still purple like before, but this time I didn't see anything weird happen around me.

"Alert!" Jarvis suddenly called from the screen and showed a red square with white letters saying the same as he had said. "Reports of giant monsters are coming in from Ellis Island."

"Avengers, assemble." Tony said before he locked his helmet again and heading for the door.

"We're all right here..." Ant-Man said and received a strange look from Iron Man. He then continued his raid for the door, and I tapped Ant-Man's shoulder.

"Let the kid have his fun." I joked before I continued as well.

When we arrived at Ellis Island, the first thing we saw was a big mass of beige moving dough, slowly reaching for the Statue of Liberty. Thor and I threw ourselves head first into the fight, but was quickly snarled up by tentacles of the mushy dough.

"Amazing!" Ant-Man said from the back of his ant as he flew above us. "They appear to be some kind of man made biological life form!"

"You say man made as if you were proud of this." Thor muttered and freed his hands from the dough. I felt two tentacles grab my thighs and another just under my chest and blushed.

"It's nothing to be proud of, it's a perverted uncooked living dough!" I yelled and kicked the tentacles and jumped up in the air. Iron Man aided Thor by shooting a beam at the dough, but it had no effect. "Guys, my repulsers aren't affecting them. If anyone's got any ideas, now's the- ugh!"

"Hold on!" I called as I saw Iron Man being swallowed by the dough. I put on my knuckledusters and punched the dough before I hit Iron Man in the head, making his helmet ring.

"Ouch!" he whined before I grabbed his hand and pulled him up. However, the dough was stronger and pulled us both down again.

"They're merging!" Giant-Man called from behind us. I looked at the Statue of Liberty and saw the dough thing climb up on it before it roared and made the whole island shake. I felt a tentacle grab the zipper on my vest and slowly unzip it, but I just bit it and zipped it again.

"Someone finish it already! It's gonna undress me if we don't!" I complained before I hit another tentacle trying to grab my shoes.

"Good thing Cap's not here." Iron Man said, obviously not hearing my complains. "This kind of thing probably didn't happened in the forties, he might freak out." A few more tentacles grabbed his arms and took him down into the dough again. "Like I am now!"

"Hang on guys, I have an idea!" I said and managed to once again get out of the blobs grasp. I jumped up in the air and landed on an invisible platform and took a good look at it. One of the faces looked up at me and aimed its ugly mouth towards me, but I just evaded it. I flipped and turned in the air so that I was upside down next to his eye. I removed my shades and stared into its white orb and felt my vision change color again. However, this time the corner of my vision wasn't white, but purple.

The head of the thing seemed to tense before it used its tentacle to shove me into Giant-Man. Then it pulled me beneath the surface of it, and removed all oxygen I had. I looked around me and felt how my shades disappeared away from me, and my lungs slowly hurt more and more. I opened my eyes and saw a face again, but when it saw my eyes it backed off and let me breathe again. I looked around me and felt the purple frame around my vision grow stronger.

"Thor, stop! The electricity is making it grow!"Ant-Man called from somewhere close to me. I heard the sound of thunder and figured it was Thor causing a thunderstorm.

"You say science is responsible for this monstrosity?" I heard Thor ask angrily before I saw his hammer fall next to me, and then he landed before the dough creature grabbed him again.

"Well, people are responsible for it. Bad people, using science very irresponsibly." Ant-Man answered and fought his way up to the surface. Suddenly a tentacle grabbed me around my eyes and my face, suffocating me and surrounding me again.

"Someone, do something!" Iron Man said and shot a beam in the air, but I was completely surrounded by dough to even answer him. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see, I couldn't call for help. Suddenly, the dough around me disappeared and the sound of Wasp's zaps echoed through the air. I let out a loud gasp before a hand reached for mine, and I took it. Thor then lifted me up and took me to the others that gathered in front of the Statue of Liberty, Wasp protecting them with her zaps as the monster tried to merge.

"We're not done, soldier." Captain America said as Iron Man helped him down on the ground next to me. "This is one of Arnim Zola's genetic freaks."

"Zola... of course!" Ant-Man suddenly exclaimed and widened his eyes at the creature. "I should have recognized this work. That's why Wasp's stings were so effective, they're bio-energy!"

"You know 'bout Mad man?" Captain America asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"I studied some of his creatures before, they all had a weakness; instability." Ant-Man answered. I raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

"Instability?" I asked in confusion. _Did my eyes generate instability? Is that why it reacted like it did when I looked at it_? "How are we gonna get enough of that to take out this entire... blob thingy?"

"With the right energy signature, we can accelerate that instability!" Ant-Man said before I was covered with the sticky dough again. My breathing was cut off again, but as soon as I was covered by it again I felt a strange ringing in my ears and looked at Ant-Man, his ant-like helmet on his head. It emitted some sort of pulse or radar sound, making the dough back off and let Iron Man through. He flew up, before he and Ant-Man exchanged words over the radio or alike, however I was unable to make anything out because of the noise.

Suddenly the entire blob exploded and rained down from the sky, landing all over Liberty Island. I felt a massive lump of it hit me straight in my face and tried to dry it off. I sighed once it was gone and looked around me. Thor was covered in it and blew away a little from his face.

"Victory... is ours." he said a little awkwardly, and Wasp shook off some dough from her with her wings.

"Hurray." she said a little sarcastically and looked down at her suit. Suddenly a large mass of people appeared and cheered for us, taking pictures and screaming our names in happiness. I looked over at Captain America and saw a proud smile linger over his face. I gave him a quick pinch on his hand and made him look at me, giving him a smile as a job well done.

I was in the gym under ground and threw off some punches at a sand bag. I was furious for some reason I couldn't put a finger on, but it had something to do with my lost memories. Something that made me lose all control.

I thought back to all I had found out so far.

I am Lyra Lewis. I am born in the summer. I have a mother, a father, a younger sister. I have a grandmother that loved me. I was lucky until something happened when I was a kid.

I had strange powers. I emitted some sort of instability through my eyes and I could create a small platform out of air or something else where I could stand, and jump longer distances than any other normal human could. I was strong, had exceptional hearing, and eyes that made my life a living hell.

_What the hell am I? Why can't I remember? What happened before I was put in the coffin? _

"Lyra?" a voice said from the door, and I snapped my head in the direction of it. I saw Wasp there and tensed down before I walked closer to her from the sandbag and took a towel and made my appearance somewhat more civilized.

"Yeah, Wasp?" I asked and gave her a smirk. She shook her head and seemed a little hesitant. It made me smile, because she looked really cute that way.

"I just wanted to know something. I read your personnel file Tony found, but something didn't seem just right." she explained and walked past me and sat down on the bench inside.

"What?" I asked, curiosity and worry filling me.

"Well, how do I say this..." she asked herself and looked up at the roof. "It said you dropped out of school to become a street fighter, and when you were thirteen you suddenly disappeared for a couple of years. It's strange, so I just wanted to ask if you knew anything about it."

I felt my vision get blurry and felt the urge to just fall to my knees and cry. I stopped myself though and placed myself next to her and took a mouthful of water before I rested my elbows on my knees. I sighed and tried to evaluate my trust for her, before I looked at her with tired eyes.

"I'm actually gonna be honest to you." I admitted and saw a little puzzled smile play across her lips. "I have no idea what happened at all when I was a kid. I have no idea what happened even before the day I met you guys."

"You mean you lost your memories?" Wasp asked and gave me a worried look. I giggled and ruffled her hair playfully.

"You're smart for a wasp." I teased before I looked away and placed my hand back on my knee. "But yeah, I lost my memories. The first thing I remembered was two men trying to kill me. I still have a scar on my thigh."

"I-" Wasp started but lost her tongue. "I don't know what to say..."

"Then don't say anything." I said and rose to my feet again. I threw a few air punches before I headed to the sandbag again and continued my rounds with punches and kicks. I took a quick pause to look at Wasp, still sitting there with her hands on her knees. I sighed and sat down on the floor in front of her.

"I am mad." I confessed and made her flinch and just stare at me. "I am mad because I know that someone took my memories away from me. I am mad because I only remember a few things about my life, like my family and my abilities. I am mad because some sorry excuse for a bad guy ruined my life. But I won't let it go out over all of you guys, so that's why I'm here, blowing off some steam."

"B-but Lyra..." Wasp began, but I put a finger over her mouth and just gave her a forced smile.

"Go tell Tony what I told you, and let him correct what happened after I was thirteen. I know now when you said it that it's true. I was a street fighter."

Wasp nodded and looked at the sandbag behind me. I looked at it as well and sighed before I patted her knee and rose again. I continued my routine and heard her walk out with heavy steps.

"Oh, by the way Lyra!" Wasp called from the door. "Please call me Jan, all my friends do."

"T-thanks, W- I mean Jan." I said and blushed. This was the second time I got a friend in a short time, not really knowing how it happened.

Once I was sure she was gone, I dropped to the floor and held my head between my hands.

My vision was getting blurry and my head ached.

"_Hey Lyra!" a young boy said as he walked up to me. "Where's your parents?" _

"_Shut up, John." I said and looked down at my book again. I was a kid again, somewhere between eight and nine. The boy, John, snatched my book and looked it through. _

"_It's a baby's story!" he exclaimed and ripped a page out. "What, think your dad's gonna come back and read it for you?" _

"_Give it back, it's my sisters!" I said and cried as I reached for it. The boy was larger than me and held it up in the air. "Please, it's all I have left of her!" _

"_Oh, so it's that important, huh?" John said and ripped out another page. "Too bad, I think I'll tear it apart, 'cause I wanna see your face when you cry." _

"_John, NO!" _

_The book as ripped apart by the binding. I felt tears stream down my cheeks, but not a sound escaped my lips. John took the two piece of the book and ripped them apart as well, before throwing the pages into my face. _

"_Come on you little wimp, cry!" he said and hit me over my face. "Cry, cry, cry!" _

_I grabbed his hand and pressed my nails into his flesh. He winced before he aimed a punch at me. I evaded it before I released his hand and placed my foot against his side, moving the foot I had on the ground into the direction I wanted to launch him, before I lifted him with my foot into the air and smashed his head into the floor. He landed on his back and just stared at me. Suddenly his friends came up to me and aimed their fists at me, but I evaded them all and made a backflip before I stared into their eyes. The corner of my vision became blurry and a purple frame was created, before the guys flinched and fell to the floor with empty eyes. They clenched their arms around themselves and muttered something inaudible, before the teachers came into the classroom and pulled me outside. _

I opened my eyes again and felt the pain subside. My memories were flooding over me from time to time, but never like that.

_What happened to my dad? What happened to my sister?_ I thought to myself and dried away the tears running down my cheeks.

"I swear upon all I stand for," I started to mutter, "I will find out what happened. After I'm done here."


	5. Chapter 5: Everything is wonderful

Chapter 5: _Everything is Wonderful_

_I walked down a rocky forest road. I was a child, not older than ten. My feet were throbbing, my head was hurting, my hands felt sore and my vision was blurry. _

"_Lyra__" __someone called from behind me. "Come here, little child!" _

_Leave me alone. I begged mentally, and continued to move. The voice was close behind me, but for every step I took it felt like I was safe. _

_Suddenly, a pair of strong hands grabbed me by my shoulders and turned me around. I saw a face, blurry but still familiar. _

_White hair and red eyes, a wrinkled face and an evil smile across his face. He slowly reached for my face and stroke my cheek, his eyes eying me up and down. He then grabbed the back of my hair and forced me down on my knees, pushing my face into the dirt. _

"_You're going to die~"_

I woke up in a cold sweat and panted heavily. I placed a shaking hand on my chest and felt my pulse beat violently against my sore skin. Suddenly I heard a couple of heavy knockings on my door and jumped a little. I slowly rose from my bed, feeling my head throb and my eyes burn and looked at the clock, showing 8.30. I sighed deeply and thought back to my memory, feeling my heart race in fear. It knocked on the door again and shouted.

"I'm coming, just hang on!" I quickly opened the door to see Captain America stand there.

"Morning soldier." he said and looked at me with a strange glimpse in his eyes.

"Uh... morning, Cap." I said and rubbed the sleepiness out of my eyes while leaning on the door frame. "What do you want?"

"I was just making sure you're awake." he said a little awkwardly and gave me an apologetic smirk. "I'm going out on an errand, but I'll be back soon."

His eyes seemed excited, but his entire body language said nervous and unknowing at the same time. I was confused by the man, but in his situation that may have seemed normal to say.

"Sure, I guess." I said nonchalantly and yawned. "Well I better get something to eat-"

"Wait," Cap said and made an awkward gesture to keep me in my room, "Just ten minutes, okay? Then you can go."

"Er... sure Cap, whatever you say..." I said and raised an eyebrow. He really did a good work confusing me. He seemed to tense down, but I knew something was up. "So who's downstairs? Is it someone I know?"

"What?" he said and tensed up again. "No, I don't think you know him."

"Well, how about you introduce me to your friend?" I said and leaned against the door case with a savage smile. He paled and looked at me all over again before he smirked as well.

"I don't think the man in question would appreciate you meeting him for the first time in your pajamas."

I blushed and looked down at my pajamas; a black tank top and a pair of baggy pants reaching my feet. All over it wasn't anything special, but it was below my pride to meet a new person in my pajamas.

"I'll stay at my room, but you have to promise you introduce us some other time. Got it?" I said and narrowed my eyes at him.

"Got it, soldier." he said and walked away. I looked after him and carefully studied him from the way he was walking. I wasn't sure why I did, but I did it and saw something nervous about him. I just shrugged before I entered my room again.

I started to look through my wardrobe for something good to wear that day, and picked out a black tank top and bleached jeans with a gash on the outside of the left thigh. I put my hair in a loose bun and put on my usual amount of makeup; eyeshadow, mascara and dark lipstick. After that I looked around the room Tony had arranged for me.

The walls were painted in a light purple color, with dark window frames and black curtains. The wardrobe was also black, but the small nightstand was varnished wood with a small purple lace cloth on it, and a small black clock.

Overall the room was dark, just like I wanted it. The lamp in the roof however allowed me to see in the room, fortunately. The interior designers had made a good job keeping the dark aura alive, but still get some light into the room.

I looked around me and out the window, growing a little bored with nothing to do for ten minutes. I tried just laying on the bed, then I stared up at the roof, before I made a ball out of a pair of socks and tossed it up in the air and then caught it. Then I grew tired of that as well, so I

After a while I got tired of just sitting on my bed and opened the door before I sneaked down the stairs. I couldn't hear anyone so I continued to the kitchen and opened the fridge. Sadly enough, all I saw was some milk, bread and spreads I didn't like. I sighed before I took the milk and searched for some cereals or anything I could eat. Suddenly I found a cabinet filled with flour, sugar, vanilla powder, cacao, baking powder and all sorts of stuff for baking. At first I widened my eyes in surprise, before I took out the flour and looked at it. A small flashback came back to me, and so I took out the other things as well. I walked back to the fridge and took out the eggs and butter, and took out a plate from another cabinet.

Once I had everything I needed, I started to bake. Mixing flour and sugar, egg and melted butter, chocolate, cacao, everything ended up in a nice dough. I looked at the light brown dough and giggled to myself. It almost looked like the dough thingy we fought the other day.

I used a spoon and poured an equal amount of dough into paper cups and placed them on the baking tray, before shoving them into the oven. I started to do more things, mixing more sugar and butter together, before I took out the tray from the oven and let the cups cool on the stove, before the next tray went into the oven.

I suddenly heard a clutter behind me. I turned around and saw a faint shadow again, before a memory played itself before me.

_I was maybe five or six years old. I held an egg in my hand and a handed it to my mother who stood by the sink and poured some water into the dough. _

"_Here mommy!" my younger self said and gave her the egg. "Do you think dad will like the cake?" _

"_I know that he'll love it, my little fairy." my mom said and added the egg to the dough. _

"_Yay!" my younger self said before I looked into the oven. "It's done, mommy!" _

I smiled as the memory faded and my cookies suddenly smelt burnt from the oven. I rushed over and lifted out the tray before the black crumbs on the plate fell to the floor. I sighed and felt my left hand sting, and looked at it. A red mark was spreading over my fingertips, so I hurried over to the sink and poured warm water over it. That was something I had learned a long time ago, that if you put burned limbs under cold water the skin would peel off, like boiled tomatoes.

Once the stingy feeling subsided I looked at my finger with furrowed eyebrows. It was still red and throbbed a little, but it was nothing major.

"Is everything alright, Ms Lewis?" a voice said and made me flinch. I looked around me and saw the small panel on the wall flash, and remembered that the A.I. Jarvis was responsible for the entire building.

"Yeah, just a small burn. Where do you keep the bandages?" I answered and opened a cabinet in search for something to cover my burnt hand with. Another cabinet automatically opened and showed me a first aid kit, which I quickly grabbed and opened up. I wrapped my hand several layers of bandage, and looked at the small panel on the wall.

"Thanks, Jarvis." I said and turned back to my burned cookies. "What about this?"

"Please allow me to clean up." Jarvis said before a small robot exited from a room close by and started to crunch on the black burned cookies. "Cleaning complete."

"Wow!" I said and looked at the tray laying on the floor. "That was effective."

"I take that as a compliment, Ms Lewis." Jarvis said as the little robot disappeared again. "And I must say, those treats looked delicious before they were ruined."

"Well, thanks." I said and blushed. "Wait, Jarvis!"

"What is it, Ms Lewis?" the computer asked and looked at me through the panel.

"Please don't say anything to the others." I begged and looked at the panel with wide eyes. "It'd be too embarrassing. It's not like me to... do these things."

"I believe I understand, Ms Lewis. If your wish is for me to keep silent, then so be it." Jarvis said, and I could picture a face with a reassuring smile. I smiled and moved myself back to the sink again, mixing more ingredients when suddenly my ID-card sounded from my pocket.

"Avengers, assemble." Ant-Man's voice echoed through the next to empty kitchen. I picked up the card and looked at the location with furrowed eyebrows.

"It's from Stark Industries' main office." I told Jarvis, but obviously he already knew. "What happened?"

"I am not sure, Ms Lewis. There appears to be a malfunction in the system, the surveillance cameras are not operating." Jarvis said after a short moment of silence. "I am suspecting an overload of power from the main office in the building."

"Well, I better get over there, right?" I said and headed up the stairs. "Let me get changed, then get me a ride."

"Certainly. May I recommend the Quin jet?" Jarvis asked and made me smirk. He really was like a butler, with a nice sense of humor.

"Sounds terrific!" I joked and quickly changed to my suit, putting my hair in a ponytail. I had new shades in a more blue color, and placed them over my eyes. I then made my way to the hangar and started the jet and let the autopilot guide me.

I tried to contact the others and get some info, but no one answered my calls. I sighed and turned off the communication, before I saw the Stark building. Its top was destroyed and glass was still falling to the ground from where it had shattered.

When I finally saw Ant-Man on the street and a giant purple man with purple steam emit from him I figured that the purple guy was the bad guy. I snickered and cracked my knuckles together. This would be a good fight. They seemed to be talking, and before I knew it the purple guy shrunk into human size and stood in the crater close to Ant-Man. I landed a good distance away from them on a roof, jumped out of the jet and moved as fast as I could over to them when suddenly a large beam was formed around the purple man.

"No!" Ant-Man yelled and looked up at the pumped up armor. The red and yellow parts shone in the light of the sun, and the voice that came from it was angry.

"That's enough Simon," Tony said, "I don't know what happened to you, but you clearly lost it."

"Guys!" I called from where I was and jumped into the crater and landed next to him. "What the heck's g-"

Suddenly the purple man, Simon, created red beams of energy through his eyes, melting Tony's mechanic arm before it exploded and sent him flying towards a building behind us. He used his jet beam in his boots and reversed the force, before he lunged at him with his remaining fist in the air.

"No, Iron Man, stop this!" Ant-Man yelled and waved his arms at his friend, however he was ignored and Iron Man collided with the purple man, Simon. He grabbed Tony's arm and tossed him on his back several yards away, before he flew over to him and stared at him.

"Tony!" I yelled and ran as fast as I could over to them. The purple man didn't even budge at my voice, and murmured a "Goodbye, Tony." before he shot a red beam again towards him.

Suddenly the roaring sound of an engine interrupted, and Captain America appeared on a motorcycle. He held his shield up and blocked the beam from hitting Iron Man, before he flew over me and landed somewhere behind me.

"Cap!" I smiled as I saw him stand there, before he started to talk to the purple man.

"I don't know who you are pal, but this is over." he said with a tough voice. I smirked and removed my shades before I looked up into the eyes of Simon. The corners of my vision turned purple, and my head throbbed a little. When he saw my eyes his body suddenly fluttered, but when it was in one piece again he sent a beam towards Cap. He held his shield up and drove towards me.

"Hop on!" Cap said, and so I did. I held on to his waist and looked at the purple man from under the shield, and took out my knuckledusters before I put them on my hands. Iron Man grabbed Simon by his waist and held him tight, making sure he couldn't escape.

"Cap! Amentia! Iron Man, stop fighting!" Ant-Man said as he came from behind the corner of a house where Cap stopped and I hopped off. "We can talk this-"

Suddenly my head felt heavy and the air around me changed. I looked at Simon and saw his body flutter again, his energy pouring out from him.

"Something's not right..." Ant-Man muttered and looked at him. I looked at Ant-Man with wide eyes and felt my skin pale.

"What's going on? Why is his body reacting like that?" I asked in slight panic. "Does it have to do with the energy his body's made of?"

"Yes, ionic energy." Ant-Man answered curtly. "It's tearing him apart!"

Iron Man suddenly flew towards us, and Ant-Man transformed into Giant-Man and caught him before he would hit the ground. I looked at the both of them and then back at Simon. It was first after he had looked into my eyes that his energy started to disrupt. Something with my eyes created a disturbance to whoever looked into them.

I was the one starting to tear him apart.

"Simon's ionic field is unstable. I think he's going into critical." Iron Man said and stood up next to me. "Hank, we've got to save him."

"I- I don't know if we can." Giant-Man said and looked at him. "Look at the ions, he's too far-"

"Hank, please!" Tony pleaded angrily. I stiffened as the ionic energy made another outburst and made me feel sick, and Cap laid a hand on my shoulder.

"Okay." Hank said after a few moments of silence and thinking. "We need something to contain the energy, to stabilize it."

"Got it." Tony said and launched at Simon again. He grabbed him by his waist and flew up to the Stark building, where he made a huge opening in the wall. I looked at Giant-Man and Cap before I heard Thor and Wasp approach behind us.

We entered the building through the great hole where Tony had entered, and heard Tony speak.

"Simon, listen!" Tony demanded and looked at the purple man that leaned against him tiredly. I saw that Simon's hand was gone, and a red area around it symbolized blood. Tony's suit was destroyed and laid in pieces behind them, and he wore a black suit with blue diodes over his arms, hips and legs. "The arc reactor can absorb your energy. They can keep you alive."

"Listen to him Simon! If you don't let us help-" Ant-Man said when we all entered.

"Help me get him into the reactor!" Tony commanded. I ran up to Tony and Simon and put his arm over my shoulder before I helped him take a step closer to the reactor, when his body suddenly turned into air and floated away from us.

"Wait." Simon cried and looked at us. "WAIT!"

I looked at the small amount of ionic energy that turned into nothingness, and the pressure in my head suddenly disappeared. I looked at Tony and saw him hang his head.

"This..." he started and drew everybody's attention to him. "This is not what I wanted. I was trying to explain to him. I bought Simon's company to save it."

_So that's what it's all about_, I thought, _he was angry because Tony bought it and thought he would be fired._

"It wasn't going to survive. I knew Simon had brilliant tech in development, I wanted to work with him. To save what he built."

I looked at him and saw sadness written all over his face. He wasn't lying, he really wanted to help Simon.

"All I wanted was to help him." Tony finished and let out a sigh. I placed a hand on his shoulder and met his eyes.

"You did the right thing from the start, Tony." I said and tried to smile, but it was hard when the sadness in the air filled me. "You wanted to help, and did what you thought was right. Don't feel too bad on yourself."

Tony gave me a sad smile and laid a hand over mine. The others behind us came up closer to us and tried to comfort Tony as well.

"Come on guys." I finally said. "How about we get back to the mansion for now?"

Well back at the mansion everyone was quiet. The unusual death of Simon had left us all in a bad mood, but I hoped that we all could at least sit together and calm down before anyone wanted to talk about it.

I thought of what I had said to the others and sighed. I had sounded so lame when I defended him. I knew he needed to hear it, but from me? It was beyond lame. It was stupid.

We opened the door and heard Jarvis welcome us back again. "Welcome back, sir. There appears to be something going on in the kitchen."

"What?" Tony said before he headed into the kitchen and stopped on the doorstep. He seemed surprised to say the least, but when the others saw it as well they seemed more excited and happy than shocked.

"What is it?" I asked since I stood behind Thor and couldn't see anything. Thor made way for me, so that I saw the lines with all the different cakes and cookies I had made during the day. I blushed as I remembered that I hadn't hidden them before I left.

"Cookies!" Janet squealed and leaped forward towards the closest plate with chocolate chip cookies. She took one and looked at it before she took a bite and widened her eyes. "These are amazing!"

"Who made all of these?" Ant-Man asked and took a blueberry muffin before he took a small bite. "Whoa, they really are delicious!"

"I do not know, sir." Jarvis lied, and I smirked at the panel by the wall.

"It is indeed strange, though." Thor said and took a cookie as well. "How did these treats suddenly appear inside the mansion when only friend Lyra and Captain America was in the building?"

"Uh..." Cap started before he seemed troubled. "I was out getting the bike." he said and looked at me. Everyone looked at me in confusion, but I just shrugged and smirked.

"Come on, seriously?" I asked and looked at them. "I hate baking. It's too girly."

"Well whoever did it sure knows how to make good cookies." Janet said with her hands full of different cookies.

"Everyone." Tony said and lifted his cookie into the air. "For Simon."

The air changed again, and we all followed Tony's example and raised our sweets into the air with serious eyes.

"For Simon." we all muttered before we took a bite.

I laid down on my bed after Tony, Janet and Hank had left. Thor and Cap were still here, probably sitting in the living room or staying in the kitchen. I had helped putting the rest of the cookies and treats away, but then I ran up to my room before I would blush or say too much and reveal it was I who baked it all.

I closed my eyes and thought back about what had happened today and when we fought the dough monster. First the dough monster reacted to my gaze, and then Hank said it was weak against instability. That could only mean my eyes caused instability when people looked into them. After that, Simon looked into my eyes and became unstable. More instability.

What was confusing me even more was that I could look at the others or at Casey, they didn't seem to react like the others. A memory told me that my gaze was even more dangerous than I could even imagine, especially when I was angry or upset.

I sighed again and turned over in my bed. I looked out the window and tried to think of anything else to think about to fall asleep easier, but it was impossible. I rose into a sitting position, banged my head down into the pillow, rose again, laid down carefully, walked around the room, without any success.

After an hour I put on a sweat shirt and walked down to the others. It was like I had thought, Cap and Thor sat on the couch and just glared at the fire. They were oblivious to my presence and seemed to flinch when I plopped down on the couch between them.

"Friend Lyra, you are awake." Thor said a little surprised and looked at me. "We both believed you were asleep."

"I can't sleep." I said and put my knees under my chin. "Too much have happened lately."

"You and me both." Cap muttered and placed his clenched fist under his chin,resting his elbow on the armrest. I looked at him and then Thor a little puzzled, but noticed that they both seemed a little worn out. I sighed and rested my back against the back of the couch, staring at the TV in front of me.

How the hell am I supposed to sleep?


	6. Chapter 6: Panther's Quest

**AN: So sorry for the long wait. I feel really ashamed of myself for letting you all wait for this! No excuses, just two chapters uploaded right now! **

**STILL SORRY! WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN! **

Chapter 6: _Panther's quest_

I sat in the assembly hall and looked at a video recorded by Jarvis from the day we fought dough thingy. Captain America had told us about the mysterious savior when a man named Zemo, all dressed in purple with a golden crown around his head and furry epaulettes that Cap first thought had 'created' me and Wasp, attacked him inside the mansion. He was about to pierce Cap with a sword when his shield, that he had lost a little earlier suddenly stuck itself in the wall and protected him, and then the image showed us a dark shadow.

"That's him." Cap said and the image froze. I removed my shades and looked closer at it, but only saw a black blur in the shape of a man. Even with my eyes I couldn't see exactly what he was.

"Wait, what am I looking for again?" Wasp asked and looked strangely at the image. "A giant cat?"

"It was a man." Cap said sternly, one hundred percent sure of what he saw.

"I think he's right." I said and looked closer at the image. "Just look at the anatomic structure."

"Can the... projectionist make it brighter?" Cap asked and made me raise an eyebrow. Then I remembered he never got to experience the computers and the cinemas of today, since he was frozen solid for a couple of decades.

"Uh... sure..." Tony said and gave him an awkward smile. "Jarvis, run a full spectrum analysis will you? And make it brighter."

The picture changed and zoomed in on the dark shadow, and for merely a second I could see a black mask but then the area around him turned into a rainbow of color. He was once again hidden in the shadows.

"Look at that." Ant-Man said from behind me. "Whatever he's wearing, it's absorbent to all energy spectra. And what he did to Jarvis. The systems still doesn't register there have been another person there!"

"Okay, fine, I'll admit it, whoever this intruder is he's got some okay technology." Tony said and pouted. I smirked and looked at him from the other side of the table.

"But it's weird." I said and looked at the screen. "Why would someone just walk in here, sneak around, save Cap when he was in danger and then disappear? I say we can't trust this guy unless he gives us an explanation."

"All I know is this man in black saved my life. He's an ally, not an enemy." Cap started when suddenly Jarvis interrupted.

"Intruder alert!"

"Nice timing Jarvis!" I joked and felt Ant-Man give me an odd look. We all ran towards the main entrance and lined up to see a black dressed man on the fence. He wore a black cat-like suit, with yellow eyes and purplish gloves and shoes. He had claws on his gloves and a mysterious calm over his persona that I had never seen before.

"So he's..." Ant-Man began.

"Not an avenger." Cap continued.

"Definitely not." Iron Man finished.

"I'm gonna hit him now."

Then I lunged at him with my full speed and he charged at me. I aimed my fist for his face and he aimed his fist for mine, but we both evaded each others attacks and landed with our backs against each other. I then aimed a roundhouse kick for his face, but he swiftly ducked and swept his foot and tried to trip me, but I made a backflip in the last second and landed in front of the others. Iron Man jumped at him next. However, before he had a chance to say anything witty the cat clawed him and made a bad scratch over his chest, sending him hurtling into the wall.

The cat man took out two arrow shaped weapons that started to glow in a mysterious purple color, and Wasp sneaked up behind him.

"You think you're fast?" she said and flew up close to him. "Dodge these!" She sent a rain of stingers towards him, but they vanished into small yellowish circles an inch away from his body.

"What happened?" Wasp asked in confusion and looked at Hank, who had shrunk into the size of an ant and rode a flying red ant next to my head.

"Well, he didn't dodge them." Hank said and tried to be funny. I just let out a small laugh and looked at them both.

"Apparently." I said and smirked.

"I did mention that his suit seem to be absorbent to- watch out!" Ant-Man said before he dove behind my head for cover. A purple arrow was shot next to my cheek, drawing a red line over my skin with a drop of blood running down to my neck. I widened my eyes in slight surprise.

_No one's ever landed a hit on me that easily._ I thought and touched the blood carefully, seeing Cap knock the cat off his feet and drop his arrow thingies.

I felt my anger grow and put on my knuckledusters, seeing Cap launch his shield at the cat. The cat swiftly tilted his upper body backwards and evaded the shield twice, sending it bouncing back to Cap again. I jumped up in the air and used one of my platforms to boost my power and hung upside down in the air. I put my hands out in front of me and aimed them for him, and kicked off. I hit him in the chest and landed on top of his chest, a painful groan escaping from him. He tried to punch me away from him but I jumped off by myself and felt my hands hurt. He stood up and stared at me for a second when suddenly he was covered in red moving material, and I noticed that it was ants.

"Now, are you ready to talk about this?" Ant-Man asked and flew up in front of me. The ants quickly climbed up towards his neck, when suddenly he pressed a button on his wrist and created a screeching sound that made the ants flee from him. Ant-Man was tossed aback and landed with one hand on the ground in front of Cap and Iron Man.  
"That sound..." he muttered. "That's vibranium!"

"Vi-what?" I asked in confusion before I launched at him again and landed a hit against his chest. He seemed to stumble before he found his footing again, sending a hand against my neck. I grabbed it and punched him in his chest again, sending him back again.

"You know what? I've had just about enough of super tech cat ninja guy!" Wasp said and shot several stingers, chasing him up on the house wall.

"I agree." Ant-Man said and pressed a button on his right hip, turning him into Giant-Man. I jumped up on the wall as well and used the invisible platforms to follow the cat man, and grabbed his foot when I reached him. However, when Giant-Man reached his hand for him he launched himself up and landed on top of his hand, hauling me up as well and placing me between his hand and the wall. I used another invisible platform to protect myself, and when Giant-Man removed his hand I saw the man jump from his shoulder to his knee and hit pressure points all over.

"Hank!" Wasp yelled and flew up next to me. Giant-Man fell to his knees with a painful face, and I landed next to him to make sure he was alright. On the other side of him I saw Iron Man aim a weapon against the back of his head, with an angry expression on his entire body.

"Don't even think about it." he threatened.

"Enough!" the cat said and placed his arms behind his back.

"What's your game, mister? You save my life, then attack us... and now you expect us to believe you're just going to surrender?" Cap said and glared at the man.

"I am not surrendering, Captain." the man said with a deep voice. He sounded foreign, possibly south African. "I have simply seen... enough."

"Okay, now you're just confusing me. First, who are you, what do you want, and why the hell did you attack us?" I snapped and walked up to him, leaning closer and pointing my index finger at him. He flinched again before he looked into my eyes.

"I wanted to asses your abilities first hand." he said. I cocked an eyebrow before I leaned away from him, my arms folded over my chest. He then removed his mask and revealed a dark skinned face, with high cheekbones and warm, friendly brown eyes. His hair was black and curly with a shaved line by his temples.

"I am T'Challa." he said and looked at us all. I widened my eyes in shock; I had heard that name somewhere before.

"The prince of Wakanda." Ant-Man filled in and rose to his feet behind me. "But what are you doing here?"

T'Challa stayed silent for a while, and seemed hesitant and unsure, before he looked straight into my eyes. "I need your help."

"So, T'Challa." I said once we all had gathered in the assembly hall. I had an icepack against my head and a patch over my cheek from the cut he had given me. "You need our help?"

"What do you need our help for?" Wasp said from the other side of the table. "You kind of mopped the floor with all five of us."

"Yeah, well for the record, I was holding back." Tony said and looked back at us. I rolled my eyes at his childish way, and his attempt to impress the others. "But Jan's right. We are kind of busy with an army of escaped super villains."

"My country have been overthrown by just such a villain." T'Challa said and furrowed his eyebrows. "A brutal thief called M'Baku the Man Ape. I need your help to get past the Wakandan people so I can restore the throne."

"Get past the Wakandan people?" Cap started and sounded angry and confused. "If your people are following this man ape of their own free will, that's the end of the story. That's what the people want."

"Just hold on." I said angrily and folded my arms over my chest. "If they made their choice, they've made their choice. Sure I guess it sucks but there's no problem-"

"You do not understand." T'Challa said and walked towards the black glass and looked at his reflection. I removed my shades and looked into his eyes through the reflection. "The people are the problem. They follow the old ways."

I suddenly saw the hurt in his eyes and felt something strange in my heart. Was it... pity? Sympathy? Empathy?

"Man ape won the throne in combat. They feel they must follow him, no matter if he destroys everything. And the man ape _will_ destroy everything." T'Challa explained, and when he finished the image disappeared from my sight.

"I don't get it." Wasp said and scratched the back of her head. "I'm sure he's bad news and all, but how can he destroy everything?"

"Vibranium." Ant-Man said as he opened a small holographic image of the precious metal. "I've studied it first hand, it's... nothing to mess around with."

"And legend has it Wakanda sitting on a mountain of it." Tony explained and leaned closer to me. I sighed and rolled my eyes, starting to get annoyed by him.

"The vibranium mound. It is our treasure, and our responsibility. For centuries we have defended it against any who would exploit it." T'Challa explained and walked up to the holographic table again. I looked at the image and sighed, feeling exhausted and confused.

"That kind of resource should belong to everyone. Vibranium has the potential to change the world." Ant-Man protested, and T'Challa nodded.

"I agree. But not necessarily for the better." he said and sent an angry glare to Tony. The said armored man placed a hand awkwardly behind his head and he gave us all a cheesy grin.

"Ah, yeah, Stark industries investigated the possibility of using vibranium to make weapons." he confessed, and I saw Ant-Man send him an accusing glare. "That was a long time ago. My people tried to deal with king T'Chaka. Where is he now?"

T'Challa lowered his head. His eyes looked sad and his proud and strong aura dropped a little. I took a step closer to him, meeting his eyes for a mere second. He looked a little hopeful when he saw me, but there was still so much pushing him down.

"If this Man Ape is going to put lives in danger, we have to do something." Cap said and looked around us. T'Challa lifted his head again and looked at him with a stern face.

"Lives are in danger, avenger." he said before he pulled out a small black card from his belt, breaking the gaze we shared. "Computer, satellite view of Wakanda."

"Wakanda can't be seen on satellite, trust me, I've tried." Tony said and looked at the map on the holographic table. Suddenly the country showed itself in a small lake somewhere in Africa and the satellite image showed a mine with people working to get a load of vibranium out.

"Okay, how exactly do you know my systems inside and out?" Tony asked in shock.

"I've studied them. Inside and out."

I chuckled and faked a cough when Tony glared at me, before we both looked back at the image. A group of people showed, wearing green and yellow suits.

"Hydra..." Cap said and took a closer step to the image.

I looked closely at the man with the scythe over his arm, dressed in a black suit with a purple cape covering his head, and a man with a ray gun on his arm, dressed in orange and brown explorer clothes. He looked old and rather rugged, with molds in his face.

"That's Grimm Reaper, one of Strucker's guys. But who's A blinking there?" Tony asked. I leaned closer to the image to get a better view, and saw a window open up with the second man's file.

"I've met him." Ant-Man said and looked closely at the image. "Ulysses Klaw. He created a device that converts vibranium into a sonic weapon."

The image faded and the table turned off, me looking at the others around me.

"So if I get it right, stop me if I'm wrong," I started and looked with slitted eyes at T'Challa and a hand to my forehead. "your people are now ruled by a Man Ape, A.K.A. M'Baku, a villain who won the throne, and your most powerful and precious treasure, the vibranium mound, is now under Hydra's control. Overall, a bad start. You want us to sneak past the guards and defenses, get to the Man Ape and kick his ass, take back the throne, stop Hydra from using the mounds and hopefully once again bring peace and happiness to the world. Did I miss anything?"

"I do not think so." T'Challa said and smirked a little at my frustrated look. I sighed and pressed my thumbs against my temples to get everything to click.

"So," Wasp said and snapped me out of whatever I was doing, "who's up for invading Wakanda?"

We were all in the jet, Iron Man by the wheel with Wasp on his side and me and T'Challa standing behind them. I was pouting since I wanted to fly the thing, I didn't feel safe in a vehicle I didn't control. Tony was of course persistent and said I could fly the next time, but I knew that wouldn't happen. The lights turned on and let us see each other, before the engines roared and sent us flying into the sky. We rose above the clouds and met the dark sky above us, a few stars greeting us before we drove past them and saw more coming towards us.

I looked at the others and saw Cap pale a little. I understood why, first time being into space was a breathtaking experience. Besides, he hadn't witnessed the first moon landing either.

"Thor still isn't responding to his ID-card. Probably taking a trip to fantasy land." Tony muttered a little annoyed and lowered his head a little.

"Jan, check the route again." I said and looked at her in the front seat as she brought up a map on a holographic screen.

"So we need to go through Torment forest, past Piranha cove, but we have to avoid the castle of, what was it? Icy clouds?" Wasp said before she looked back at us a little, asking for the right answer from either me or T'Challa.

"Chilling mists." T'Challa said.

"Right."

I looked at Cap and saw him look out the window, looking dreamy. Suddenly T'Challa placed a hand on my shoulder and made me look at him.

"I did not get your name." he explained. I smirked and removed my shades before I looked into his eyes under his mask.

"Shadow. But my real name's Lyra."

"Not many have managed to catch me off guard. I admit that I was quite astonished." T'Challa said and nodded a little. I smiled and nodded a little as well.

"I guess the same goes for you." I said and touched the small scratch left after our battle just a couple of hours earlier. "Unfortunately, I can't tell if you're the first to land a hit on me."

"Why is that?" he asked a little confusedly. I giggled and placed my hand back on the seat in front of me again.

"It's a long story, I'll tell you later if we survive this." I joked and looked ahead of me with a smile.

Suddenly T'Challa flinched and looked at the field of wood ahead of us. I looked at it as well but couldn't see anything different than the open field just behind us.

"This is not the path I made out! You should avoid this area!" he said and looked at Tony with narrowed eyes. "The jungle here is too well protected!"

"Don't worry! The Quinjet has the best cloaking tech there is. Come on." Iron Man said and sounded cocky. Suddenly something hit the rear of the vehicle, and an alarm started to buzz.

"Wakandan defense tech is better." T'Challa said. I felt the back of the jet burst behind us, and lost my footing as the vehicle shook violently. I fell against the wall behind us, my head in a dangerous route to a pointy object from the engine when T'Challa grabbed my hand and pulled me into his arms. I looked between him and the pointy object several times before I gave him a pale, weak smile of gratitude and a small blush forming on my cheeks.

We landed in the jungle, somewhat safely, and I kicked the hangar door open. I helped the others out as well as I could, before I saw that we were high up in the air. I looked at Cap and created a small platform for him. He stepped on to it, and I helped him down on the ground.

"_You_ owe me a jet." Iron Man said angrily and looked at T'Challa as he landed, checking up on the poor jet in the tree.

"You chose not to listen to me, Stark. It was a mistake." T'Challa said, and I could imagine how they wrinkled their noses at each other.

"Both of you, knock it off." I said. "We should-"

"You and me need to have a little talk, kitty!" Iron Man said and made a threatening pose. I sighed and rolled my eyes as they both ignored me. Sure he had the reason to be angry, but he had to think the other way around as well. He took the off limits route, and put us in this mess from the start. Of course, I would never say that to him when he was already in a bad mood.

"Hey, would you look at the time! Shouldn't we be somewhere, like in a big fight against Hydra?" Wasp said and flew in between the two of them. Iron Man looked away for a second before he found his cool again and made up a plan.

"Right, here's the plan. We take down Hydra and protect the vibranium mound, then we deal with Man Ape."

"Sound fair enough." I said and cracked my knuckles against the palm of my hand. "I'm in."

"Do not underestimate the Wakandan army, which is heading this way." T'Challa said. I sighed and let my hands fall to my sides again.

"And one point for the black panther." I said and received an angry glare from beneath Iron Man's helmet. "What? Oh come on, you saw what they did to the jet! We probably don't stand a chance!"

"I wish you well. But I will deal with Man Ape myself." T'Challa said before he jumped up in a tree behind me and took off.

"And... he left." Wasp said and pointed her finger in his direction. I looked at Iron Man with a stern look, seeing him flinch a little.

"You have got to be kidding me?! What, I- okay, fine. Cap, Amnesia, go after him."

"But you need-" Cap started before he lowered his eyes for a second when he met Tony's eyes. "Understood."

"And it's Shadow!" I scolded before I followed Cap into the deep jungle.

We ran for quiet a while before we even spotted the swift jungle man. He was jumping from branch to branch, swinging himself in some sort of jungle plant that had grown down from the trees over a cliff, and we did as well as we could to follow him. It was no match for the super soldier, but for bad ass girl without any memories it was harder. Just as I was about to grab one of the plants like T'Challa had, it broke when I was half way over. I had no energy left to create a platform to save me, so I just looked around me for another vine. Suddenly, a hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me up to the root next to him.

"Thanks, Cap." I muttered and continued after T'Challa. He suddenly stopped and gave us a quick glance.

"Your tenacity is admirable, but you are both very out of your place in the jungle." he snapped and rose into full length.

"You came to us for help, so here we are." Cap said. I placed a hand on my hip and looked at him.

"I think you knew you couldn't handle all of this alone." I said with a firm voice. He flinched at my words but still didn't meet my eyes. "You knew all along that it was too much for you alone. That's why you tried to reach us, get our help. You know you can't face the man-ape all alone."

"This is my burden to bear. _Alone_! You do not understand!" T'Challa said and clenched his fist. I sighed and closed my eyes for a second to think things through.

"So the Avengers were what, a distraction?" Cap asked in frustration. "You're just using us to get past your own people?"

"Man Ape, is mine!" T'Challa said, his voice filled with pain and anger. I looked at his body language again, seeing a small shadow linger around him. It was so much confusion and determination it overflowed from his body, and he didn't seem to know how to deal with it.

"Well if you want him, keep him!" I snapped and jumped over to the root he stood on and landed in a crouching position before I rose to my full length and tapped my finger at his chest, my eyes glaring into his from above my shades. "I don't care who you're dealing with, all I care about is that a man I respect needs help and I'm not backing down!"

"Well I've got my orders." Cap filled in. "Besides, I owe you one. You saved my life, remember? So you can let us help you, or we can go another round."

T'Challa let his fist open, and I looked at his mask. His face moved underneath it, I knew it, and his energy dropped. He turned away from us, before he started talking again.

"Man Ape took my father." he said, his voice shaking. I knew it was hard on him, but I never figured it would be that hard on him. "And I did nothing! I failed him."

"T'Challa..." I said and lifted my hand towards his shoulder but hesitated as he continued, his voice still shaking.

"I know you can understand that, Captain, Shadow. Please, let me do this." he said, before he jumped onto another branch and disappeared into the jungle. I looked back at Cap and saw him stare after him. I jumped back to the branch where he stood and looked at him. Then I gave him a light slap on his shoulder with the back of my hand. He flinched and looked at me with wide eyes.

"What-"

"Come on, 'go another round'? Is it really only meat in your head? He's literally breaking down because of this Man Ape. Can't you see that?" I scolded and looked into his cold blue eyes. He seemed confused.

"No, I can't." he said plainly, and I smacked my palm to my forehead.

"Whatever, we need to follow him and make sure he doesn't get into more trouble than he already is in." I sighed and started to jump over the roots, Cap following me.

"He said he wanted to deal with this alone." Cap protested as I jumped over to the branch where T'Challa had jumped off from. I turned and looked at him.

"He said he wanted to deal with Man Ape alone, but the rest of guys are ours to kick their butts. Come on, you had your orders." I said and winked my eye. Cap flinched again, before he smirked at me and followed me.

I sat on top of a great stone statue, Cap beneath it. It looked like an ancient African idol of some sort, and there were more lined up around the fence surrounding the throne in front of us. In front of me, T'Challa fought two female warriors carrying spears with an odd rock at the end, emitting the same weird aura like the vibranium did. T'Challa was wiped off his feet and landed on his stomach, the two female warriors aiming their spears at his chest. He rose a little and looked at them. A loud laughter was heard, and when I looked over to the throne I saw an oversized muscular man dressed in a white mountain gorilla's fur and paws.

It was M'Baku, the Man Ape.

"Your father trained them well, cub!" he taunted, and T'Challa looked at the female warriors.

"You do not have to do this." he said, and the females looked at each other in hesitance before they lifted the spears and aimed for his head. He raised his arm over his head, preparing for the worst, when suddenly a red shield appeared and broke the spears. Cap showed himself from behind the statue, and I jumped down from it and launched at the female warriors with a kick to shove them away from T'Challa.

"You can face Man Ape alone," Cap said and put the shield on his arm again, "anyone else is fair game."

The females rose to their feet again and looked at me in shock, before they looked at their king. I smirked and removed my shades, before the Man Ape narrowed his eyes at us.

"Tear the outsiders apart." he said with a cold voice. "I will deal with the panther."

The closest female to me took me by surprise and launched a fist for my face. I dodged it in the last second and grabbed her hand before I twisted it behind her back, when the second one swept my feet off the ground. Cap ran up to me and tackled the one who swept my feet into a statue, before the other one grabbed his suit and aimed a kick for his side. I grabbed her leg behind her and threw her into the air, before she landed on her stomach with a groan. The other woman kicked Cap and made him fall back a couple of feet, before she made an aerial kick against his shield and flew back to me. The second woman launched at him, while I placed the front of my foot against the first one's side and moved my other foot on the ground. I launched her up in the air and held her there firmly for a second, before I made a small jump and twisted my entire body and threw her hurtling into the ground face first. She was knocked out immediately and I snickered in victory.

Suddenly my head started to throb. I looked over at the man ape and saw him hold a small device in his hand, emitting a large noise resembling to the noise active vibranium made.

"T'Challa!" Cap and I yelled and ran towards him, when someone suddenly hit our pressure points in our necks. I fell to my knees and looked ahead of me, before I felt something sharp against my throat. I looked at the woman holding the broken spear piece in her hand, before she met my eyes and flinched.

"What are you doing?" she asked me in panic. I raised my eyebrows and looked at her as her face paled and a small bead of sweat fell down from her forehead. "Stop it, it is terrifying."

"What is she talking about?" Cap asked, when suddenly a crash was heard from the mountain behind us. I looked at it and saw smoke emit from a whole, and saw small pieces of rock fall to the ground before us. It was vibranium.

"No!" I said and rose to my feet. "The others are in there!"

"What?" Cap said when suddenly the Man Ape was knocked down a few feet away from us. The woman looked into my eyes again before she fell down on her knees, before she fainted and fell face first to the ground.

A few people started to appear from behind the statues, looking at T'Challa and the knocked out Man Ape. I helped Cap up to his feet and looked around me as well, putting my shades on again.

"This is the man who has brought catastrophe to our land. The one who took your king, through cowardice and dishonor." T'Challa yelled to the people around him.

"T'Challa!" a man called, and the people repeated after him, cheering for their new king. Suddenly the two women placed themselves before us, spears in their hands pointing at our chests. I backed up against Cap and steadied a battle stance, muttering.

"So that's how they show gratitude to outsiders that helped."

However, T'Challa waved his hand towards them and told them to hold back. I tensed down and smiled at T'Challa, before Cap whispered into my ear.

"You were saying?"

"Nah, I've been through worse hostility." I whispered back and thought of the coffin and the truck, hearing a small chuckle escape Cap's lips.

Suddenly a loud noise made me fall down to my knees. Cap turned and tried to hold me up, but the sound was making my head throb so hard that I couldn't hear what he said. T'Challa took a hesitant step closer to me and seemed to say something but I couldn't hear anything besides the noise and the throbbing from my heart and head. Suddenly I felt a taste of blood in my mouth and held myself up on my elbows. My eyes widened and my breathing became rapid; I was panicking.

Suddenly the people around me clutched their heads as well, the noise growing stronger than before. Some blood dropped down from my lips and my breathing became uneven. My heart was pounding, my head was throbbing, the blood kept dropping out. The pain was unbearable.

As suddenly as the noise appeared, it disappeared again. I took a shaking breath and rose up to my knees again, wiping away the blood from my chin. Everyone around me seemed to be alright as well and rose again and a child came up to me with a small cloth. I looked at the child with confused eyes, and when I was about to take the small cloth a woman came and took the child away. The child dropped the cloth for me and I carefully took it with a small smile on my lips. I looked for the child but it was gone in the masses of people. I tucked the cloth into my pocket and wiped the blood away with the back of my hand, not wanting to ruin the exclusive material the cloth was made of.

After a few minutes the other three Avengers appeared from the mountain. Iron Man seemed to shake as he walked for some reason, and when I patted his shoulder he seemed to vibrate forcefully. I giggled and got a weird look from Cap and Wasp as I patted him again.

"No-o-o, please-s-s, st-o-op, I'm still vibrate-i-ing!" he said and shoved my hand away before I had a chance to do it again.

"On one condition." I said and smirked. "You tell me all about what happened when we get back home."

"I'll try-y-y." he said and looked at Cap and T'Challa. Suddenly four warriors came up behind them with spears aimed for them. "If we-e-e survive that i-i-is."

"The true king of Wakanda has returned." a man said and walked past the warriors. He wore a green hat with white pieces of fur attached to small spikes, and a white long wrapping over his waist and his shoulder, reaching down to his feet. He wore sandals too, and held a long walking stick in his right hand with a golden ikon of a panther's head on the top. He also had a small white beard.

"Now we may purify our land of the outsiders, and return to the old ways." the man finished and kneed before T'Challa.

"Rise, my friend." T'Challa said as he laid a hand on the old man's shoulder. "Outsiders may have threatened Wakanda, but outsiders saved us as well. The old ways allowed Man Ape to do this, and the old ways must change."

The warriors lowered their spears. I looked at T'Challa and smiled. He way right, and his speech was deep and moving.

"My first order as king is to let the council lead Wakanda. A council of the people. We can no longer hide ourselves away, waiting for our enemies to come to us. What happens in Wakanda affects the world, so I will go out into the world. I will fight alongside our new allies!"

"You attacked us, you used us, you abandoned us, now you wanna join us?" Iron Man said and walked up between me and Cap. "Why should we trust you?"

"You shouldn't. I will earn your trust. Should you allow me to join you?" T'Challa said and walked up to Iron Man. His voice was so calm and yet so excited in the same time.

"Tony, he deserves it." I said and laid a hand on his shoulder. "I know he made some mistakes, he was sort of responsible for crashing the Quinjet, he did use us to get past-"

"Your point is?" Iron Man said and sent me a confused glare. I sighed and tried to get the right words.

"Okay, let's put it like this. Normally, I don't trust people, I really don't. I'm a little mad myself, but I know we can trust him."

"He's probably our best bet for a ride home too." Wasp whispered into his ear on the other side if me. Tony didn't even hesitate before he gave T'Challa his hand.

"You're in." he said, and then they shook hands.

We were home before we knew it. I can't even remember what type of ride we used, because it was perfectly cloaked even from us. I looked back at T'Challa from time to time, and when he glanced over at me I quickly turned my head back and looked at something else with a small blush on my cheeks. We were both in the front seats and it felt weird that I couldn't snap my eyes off of him.

Suddenly he tapped my shoulder and leaned closer to me as I flinched of surprise.

"You stood up for me." he said with a whisper. "Unexpected, but you did. For that I thank you, Shadow."

"Well, uh, no problem I guess." I whispered back and looked at him. He had pulled his mask down and smiled at me. His warm eyes and dark skin looked so beautiful in the dim light from the sunset. I blushed and snapped my head back to look out the window. The sunset was even more beautiful. The warm red color of the sun, and the pink-purplish color of the sky slowly fading into deep blue, the stars beginning to pop out on the sky before us. It was breathtaking.

Before I knew it I had fallen asleep, hearing distant chuckling that soothed me.


	7. Chapter 7: Gamma World

**AN: Just found out Lyra is pretty Mary-Sue... who gives a f*ck? I don't care right now? I'm to lazy to change everything right now anyway. So, here's part seven! **

Chapter 7: _Gamma world_

I sat at the back of Cap's motorcycle, holding on to his shoulders lightly with my feet on the seat. Not too far in front of me I saw the target we were chasing.

"I've got visual. This joker's fast, I'll give him that." Cap admitted a little sarcastically. The man called Hawkeye was wanted for betraying SHIELD and act as a double agent. We couldn't find too much about him in the computers, and even when I tried to hack myself into the wanted lists SHIELD held, we couldn't find too much.

_I still don't know how I managed to hack into the computers,_ I thought to myself as we chased him. _Maybe SHIELD knows something_.

Suddenly Hawkeye jumped down the ledge of a building and disappeared, and I readied myself for a pursuit. I let go of Cap's shoulders, my feet still standing on the seat of the motorcycle. I jumped off and followed Hawkeye down into an alley, using the platforms I created to boost my speed. Wasp flied past me as I ran and gave me a smile as we raced after the criminal. Suddenly she stopped and caused me to stop as well. I looked at whatever she was looking at, seeing the said criminals arrow point at her. I paled and looked into the ice blue eyes, looking him all over.

He wore a purple suit, with one sleeve and pants and a lighter purple cloth over his chest. By his waist was a belt that separated a loose hanging cloth that reached his knees, one in the front and one in the back. He wore a mask that covered most of his eyes and looked like the head of a hawk, with an 'H' over his forehead.

"Hi there." he muttered and looked at the both of us. "Like the shades."

I blushed and glared at him from above the shades a little threatening. He was annoying but his voice was somewhat hot at the same time.

"Give it up, Hawkeye!" Iron Man said behind us. Black Panther jumped down from the roof behind him and landed on a small platform above a door and glared at the purple clad criminal, and Cap entered the alley on his motorcycle before sliding to a stop next to Iron Man. "You can't win."

Just as Iron Man had finished the sentence, a spotlight shone into my eyes from above and a voice was heard through speakers.

"Attention Avengers." the voice said and drew all our attention to it. I narrowed my eyes and saw a vehicle in the air soaring above the buildings. It looked like a ginormous jet or aerial fighter plane, but by the looks of it I could easily tell it was a SHIELD plane.

"Great!" I said sarcastically. "Yeah, you're so welcome to just interrupt us in the middle of a mission!"

"Hey, where did he go?" Wasp suddenly asked, and when I turned my head back I saw that the spot where he had been before was empty. I sighed again and pressed the bridge of my nose in annoyance.

"No sign of him... Great!" Iron Man muttered and looked around us.

"Yeah, you may scare away our target as well." I muttered sarcastically and sat down on the container, my shades in my hand and my head resting to my other hand. Iron Man and Wasp flew up to the plane and the man standing in the hatch, the same man that told Fury Graviton wasn't responsible for the breakout. They changed a couple of words, but I couldn't hear anything because of the noise in the background. However, I did hear one thing.

"We need your help."

I looked at the other two, and it seemed they had heard that as well.

We entered the Quinjet and picked up Thor on the way to the unknown destination, but I was too lost in the conversation between Iron Man and the commander Quartermain to care where he came from.

"Friend Shadow!" Thor said all of a sudden and gave me a heavy pat on my back, thrusting the air out of my lungs. "It has been a long time, has it not?"

"Yeah, too long if you ask me." I snapped at him. "Where the hell were you? Your help would have been useful the last couple of days, you know!"

"I did not mean to upset you, friend Shadow." Thor defended himself. "Some things... occurred that I had to deal with."

"Whatever, you're here now and that's the end of the story, right?" I said and tried to calm down. I was getting angry for no reason, I shouldn't blame him for it though. I was angry because SHIELD took my chance of getting a good fight away from me, and because I never was informed of what the heck was going on.

"Look. On the horizon." Cap suddenly said and made me follow his gaze. I gasped when I saw what he had seen.

"Wow..." I said before I unbuckled myself and rose to stand beside him. A green dome of pure energy surrounded a cube like building; the Cube prison for gamma exposed criminals. I looked at the dome with wide eyes and removed my shades to see better. We then exited the jet and walked out, seeing the dome with our own eyes.

"What manner of sorcery is this?" Thor asked in shock and looked at the dome.

"It's pure gamma radiation." Iron Man said, almost sounding proud and excited at the same time. "Man, I bet Hank is sorry he stayed behind in Wakanda now."

"No kidding! This is way cooler than to study vibranium!" Wasp said when she suddenly remembered the Wakandan king standing next to her. "Uh, no offense."

"This is freaky." I said and looked at the dome. "What the hell is creating this much gamma energy anyway?"

"Where is Bruce Banner? I was told he was on your team." a man said and walked up to us. His green hair reached down to his collarbones and his muscles were above human possible. He had a scar over his eye and a red shirt with two white bolts painted over the neck line of the shirt. He also had black pants, two silver bracelets over his wrists and most of his lower arms. His belt shone in silver as well, with three green orbs imbedded in the metal. He almost looked like a space traveler.

"Why does that man have green hair?" Cap asked behind me, but I just shrugged and looked at Iron Man.

"I have no idea." Iron Man said before he looked back at the green haired man. "You're doctor Leonard Samson, right?" The man nodded. "Hulk is on a... vacation. Now does someone wanna tell us what's going on?"

We were all shown into a plane where Samson and Quartermain loaded a video into a small screen by the wall. It showed a squadron of SHIELD-agents in dark green suits with heavy weaponry charging at the Cube, when suddenly something grabbed one of the soldiers and pulled him into the darkness. The others were attacked by a weird green light that made the camera turn off. The echoes of screams still echoed in my head as the nightmare like reality became clear to me.

"This is video from SHIELD's incursion into the Cube, after the breakout. The staff and SHIELD personnel were all accounted for, but the prisoners..."

I looked at the screen and widened my eyes in shock. What was that light? Did the prisoners cause that?

"What was that?" Wasp asked.

"Emil Blonsky, the Abomination." Samson explained and showed us a picture of the said creature. It had hard dark green scales and looked like a mix between a fish, snake, an armadillo and a human. He was big, mean and ugly. "Strong as the Hulk, twice as mean... and with military training. He's not the problem though."

They showed us another video footage, showing us three people from SHIELD guarding the Cube.

"The dome exploded outwards, from the Cube. And the SHIELD team was caught inside. Then this happened."

The three agents were suddenly surrounded in a green light, and their bodies were changing. The woman grew wings, the man closest to her grew to double his size in a second. Suddenly a face appeared just in front of the camera, looking like a zombie. The six of us reacted, all backing of a little. Wasp gasped and paled, before I laid a hand on her shoulder.

"The dome is expanding, with no sign of stopping. At this rate, it will hit a town in the next six hours, a mayor city in eight."

"Who is responsible for this?" Cap asked sternly.

Samson moved his hand over a small sphere in the center of the control panel for the screen, and opened an image of a man with a large head.

"Samuel Sterns. The Leader. A gamma radiated villain. As strong as the Hulk is, the Leader is intelligent."

"As far as we know, the Leader's inside. Most likely with a mass of gamma-villains. The Abomination, the Absorbing man, Zzzax... they were all inside the Cube when the breakout occurred."

"What do you want us to do?" I asked and crossed my arms over my chest.

"We want you to go into the Cube." Quartermain said simply. Wasp suddenly laughed, and when he looked at her she fell silent.

"Oh wait, you're serious." she said and her face dropped.

The hangar door opened beside us, and Samson clicked another button. Wasp looked at the Dome for a long time before she looked back at him.

"Not to harp on this one particular little point, but how are we going to get into the Cube without, you know... getting all _gammad_ up?" she asked and placed a hand on her hip.

"This is how, Wasp." Samson said and pressed a second button, and a line of white suits entered to us from the wall. "I've modified their SHIELD radiation plating to protect you. Wearing these, you should be immune to the effects from the gamma radiation."

"Should?" I asked before I took one of the suits and looked at it.

"An Asgardian needs no such protection." Thor said as an agent handed him a suit, but he declined it the same instant. Iron Man looked at the suit as well, before he looked back at Samson.

"So you've sent people in wearing these?"

"Er, no, it hasn't been tested yet." Samson said a little awkwardly. Everyone turned their heads and stared at him. "But I'm confident it will work."

"This is getting better and better..." I sighed put on the helmet of my suit. "Looking good, Wasp."

Wasp gave me an angry glare, but I just smirked and looked at the others. We were all ready to go, and so we did. We walked up to the dome that slowly crawled closer to us, and stopped for a second.

"So who wants to go first? Panther?" Iron Man asked and looked back at his team. I flinched and looked at him in slight anger. How could he even think of sacrificing his own team like that? Panther took a step forward, when Cap stopped him and looked back at Iron Man.

"Leaders lead." he said.

"Thanks Cap..." Iron Man muttered and took a few steps closer to the dome. He looked back at us, and I saw Cap give him a thumbs up. I smiled at him, before he turned back to the dome and let it devour him. He gave us a sign to come after him, and so we did. It tingled in my skin as we entered, but then it disappeared and we were clear to go. I looked at Thor and raised an eyebrow at him.

"You okay?" I asked the Asgardian, receiving a puzzled glance from him.

"Aye. Do you feel well?" Thor asked and looked into my eyes for a second.

"Just wanted to check up on you." I said and blushed in the helmet, looking forward again.

"You are strange, friend Shadow." Thor suddenly said. "Thou seem uncaring, though you can show such humility to others."

"Uh... thanks I guess." I said and looked back at him again. "But I only care because I don't want to be left alone with a _gammad_ Asgardian."

"I do not understand..." Thor said when Wasp suddenly flew up to a crashed air plane laying on the ground in pieces.

"Oh, man, look at this place." she said through her communicator, before turning her back to the vehicle. Suddenly the rock in front of it moved, and a creature looking like a rock rose to his full length behind her. She flew back to us and placed herself in a battle stance, and so did we. Two more creatures appeared, one looking like a zombie with overflowing muscles and the other one a harpy, one of those human like creatures with some parts of an eagle or hawk.

"Quartermain?" Iron Man asked the said man without moving his gaze from the creatures.

"It's them. It's my men." Quartermain mumbled and widened his eyes. The creatures roared at us and bared their fangs or teeth, making themselves look more terrifying.

"I kind of miss chasing Hawkeye." Wasp said, panic clear in her voice.

"You and me both." Iron Man said and looked at the rocky creature approach him. I looked at them all and quickly calculated a strategy, before running towards the harpy.

"You guys take zombie and rocky, this one's mine!" I called before I launched a kick into the creature's side. It grabbed my leg before I had a chance to pull back and aimed to throw me away and into the wrecked plane behind me, but I held on to its hand and swiftly got up on its back. The agents started to fire at them and the harpy rose into the air and tried to evade the fire and wriggle out of my grip at the same time. The harpy grabbed one of the soldiers by his shoulders and hauled him up in the air along with me. I tried to kick it and punch it to make it let go of the man, but it was first when one of Wasp's stingers hit her leg that she let go. I looked after the man and saw that Wasp grabbed a hold of his suit and helped him down on the ground again, safe and sound.

Suddenly the harpy started to do a series of aerial acrobatics, trying to scare me off its back. I just held on tighter, seeing my world spin around me.

"Come on birdie," I mocked and pressed my finger nails into the thick feathery skin, "that's all you've got?"

The harpy reacted and started to fall in a fast speed towards the ground, and my heart stopped for a moment. I grabbed a hold of its neck and pulled it up, trying to make it stop falling and fly again. Suddenly the fear was too overwhelming, and my hands went numb. I let go and felt myself fall freely, when suddenly someone caught me and smashed the harpy into the ground. I looked up at Samson and felt his arm wrap itself around my waist, making sure I wouldn't fall anymore. I blushed and looked at him before he let me go and smiled at me.

"You okay?" he said. I narrowed my eyes and glared at him, a little awkwardly.

"Of course I am! I was about to get that one!" I said stubbornly, but it was a complete lie. Samson's face dropped and he looked a little confused, and I sighed heavily.

"Thanks." I muttered before I walked away from him. In the reflection from the glass of the helmet I saw him smile at me, placing a hand on his hip. I looked around me and saw that Iron Man and Thor had knocked out the rocky creature, Cap and Panther had knocked out the zombie.

"These creatures may share his origin," Thor said behind me, "but they are pale reflections of the true Hulk."

"That's a good thing, Thor." Iron Man said. I looked at him before I rolled my eyes and looked back at Samson and the harpy, which he was reading with some sort of tech.

"Once these agents are clear of the gamma field, they should revert back to human form. Hopefully, with no side effects." Samson stated and looked at the small screen with narrowed, focused eyes.

"More _should_!" I sighed and crouched next to him. "Whatever. As long as they don't try to kill us again."

"You had some pretty good moves back there, doc." Cap said behind us, and we both looked back at him.

"Doc Samson, avenger. Think about it." Wasp offered, but Samson just sighed and rose to his feet.

"Look around. This is all my fault." he said and motioned to the dome surrounding the Cube. "Bruce warned me, I didn't listen. My only concern right now is making this right."

"The dome has to have some kind of power source. Like a gamma radiator." Iron Man stated and looked around us.

"If the Leader truly is as brilliant as Samson says, then this no doubt a trap. He would be prepared for SHIELD at the very least, and the Hulk at the very most." Panther said coolly and looked at us.

"I forgot you talked!" Wasp said after letting out a gasp. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"So we have to get inside the Cube? The stronghold of the Leader? And kick some gamma-villain's butt?" I asked and cracked my knuckles against the palm of my hand. "Sounds like a good plan to me."

"Okay. Thor goes in first." Iron Man said and looked at all of us.

We entered the Cube, me and Thor going among the first ones. Iron Man soon took the lead to light up the way and Cap walked up next to him.

"Stay sharp, team." Cap said and turned his head a little to look at us.

"Right, everyone stay sharp!" Iron Man imitated and made me roll my eyes, when suddenly two of the soldiers behind us screamed and disappeared into the green mist covering the floors.

"Jackson?" Quartermain asked in slight panic, running after his men. "Jackson, what just happened?"

Suddenly the second man disappeared into the mist, and Quartermain freaked out.

"Hahn!"

"The gamma radiation is messing with my systems. I've got multiple contacts, but I can't lock them down." Iron Man said and moved the lights in the direction of the disappearing agents.

"If anyone else is completely terrified, I can escort you out." Wasp said and curled up a little. Suddenly Samson was thrown into the wall behind him, but nothing was seen. "Doc?"

"Show yourself, coward!" Thor called, and was grabbed over his shoulders before also he was thrown back into the darkness.

"Thor!" I yelled and followed him when something wrapped itself around my waist and pulled me down against the floor. I looked up and saw a completely black head without any facial details except a metal thing from its forehead, a galaxy like spiral spinning inside its body. He reached for the button on my suit and pressed it, my heart slowing down as the light from my helmet turned off.

"No!" I yelled and clenched my head between my hands, pulling down the helmet further. I waited for the pain to tear me apart, but it never came. I stayed down and waited for it to come, but then a voice echoed in the building.

"Welcome, to the Cube."

"Vector!" Samson called, and when I turned my head I saw him lying on the ground. My heart was still pounding slowly but with heavy beats making my head throb, but I still heard them all.

"That's...!" Samson started when he appeared to remember something about the creature. "I created those devices to drain gamma energy!"

"The Leader has other plans for them. Our powers are increased to levels, you can't- ugh!" Vector started, when he was suddenly knocked out.

"You all talk too much." Panther said and jumped off of him.

Thor finally broke free from whatever had grabbed him and used his hammer to clear the mist covering the floors. I saw him and Cap on my other side, a smoke like woman disperse from his body in a blood curdling scream. Iron Man hit the thing with the six arms and shocking powers, knocking him out as well. Then Cap and Thor used their weapons to knock down the second rock like creature, before looking at me.

"Truly, a poor showing." Thor said before he knelt down to me. "Are you unharmed, friend Shadow?"

"I- I don't know..." I muttered and took off my helmet. My hair broke free from my hairband and fell into my face. "I think... I'm immune to the gamma."

"Better buckle up for safety, soldier." Cap said and placed the helmet over my head again. "Never know when you'll need this."

"The Leader will have to do much better-" Thor began, when suddenly Panther interrupted from the ceiling.

"No! The agents outside, the UFO's, it is all a distraction!"

Suddenly a burst of energy ran from my feet to my head, and I was filled with the tearing feeling that my inside was torn apart. I screamed bloody murder; the pain was unbearable. Like if a flood of electricity, some sort of energy exited my body through my mouth and collected itself before us. After that, I fell unconscious.

"Thor!" I heard Iron Man's voice call as I slowly returned to my consciousness. "Destroy... the generator... no matter what!"

"Doctor. Iron Man speaks truly. Find me the Leader, and I will finish this." Thor said, and I felt something nod before I was moved and felt my world spin around me.

"Guys!" I said and looked at Samson carrying me over his shoulder. "Put me down!"

"Shadow!" Thor said and helped me down from Samson's shoulder, before we continued running. "You are awake!"

"Well, pretty much." I said and clenched my side as I ran. "What the heck happened?"

"Wasp and Quartermain turned into gamma monsters, because of the Zzzax. He zapped your body as well. Now we are heading for the main generator-" Samson started, when we suddenly came to a great room with a glowing green beam from the floor to the roof. We all stopped and looked at the four people standing in the way.

"Uh-oh." Samson said and clenched his fist.

"You don't say." I muttered and tried to take a battle stance.

"Oh, look Wrecker, they actually thought the Leader was gonna be here. Too bad." a man said, with blonde hair and a white and red suit, blue gloves over his huge hands and a blue belt around his waist. His right hand was huge, surely a mutation. He held a small device in his other hand, before he placed it on an empty panel on his chest. He suddenly grew into twice his size and laughed hysterically, smoke coming from his skin.

The other three, a man with an orange suit and iron fists, shoes and helmet swelled up as well, along with a man in a green and yellow suit holding a great wrecking ball over his hand. The last man was dressed in a green suit with purple mask, gloves and shoes, holding an oversized crowbar in his hand.

"Let's take 'em down, boys." the first man said and looked at the others, that charged at us. The man with the wrecking ball sent it flying towards Samson and me, but I managed to evade it. Samson on the other hand was hit straight in the chest and sent him flying back into the hallway we just entered.

"Doctor!" Thor called and looked after him. I saw Samson rise to his feet and look at his hands.

"I'm okay. Not changing." he said before the man with the giant hand grabbed him and pushed him into the wall. Thor was suddenly grabbed by the wrecker ball, and I was held back by a pair of strong hands. The man with the crowbar hit Thor in the head, but the man holding me just pushed me down on the floor. I used my foot to kick the man square in the nuts, but he didn't even budge for my kick.

"Hey there beautiful, how about we take off that ugly helmet of yours?" the man said and grabbed a hold of my helmet. I smirked and let a cocky giggle escape my mouth.

"I'd keep it on if I were you, I bite." I warned, but before I knew it the helmet was gone and he was crushing my skull against the floor.

"Not so easy this time, is it," the man said, "now that we've got the power!"

An explosion echoed through my head before I felt a shock wave course through my body, and the man flew away from me. I opened my eyes and saw that the generator was destroyed, and Panther jumped down to us. His suit was torn into shreds, and his dark skinned revealed on his arms and legs.

"I could not get close enough to the generator while the Leader's forces guarded it. Are you okay doctor, thunderer?" he asked and looked at the three of us. He gave me a hand and I took it without a question, standing up and looking at my torn suit. My suit underneath was in one piece, but the radiation suit was no more.

"Aye, T'Challa." Thor said and put on his helmet again. "But truly, that was a close one."

"How are you, Shadow?" T'Challa asked as he looked at me. "You were beaten badly."

"I'm fine, T'Challa, but are you okay?" I asked and looked into his eyes with both concern and annoyance. "You were closest to the generator. No scary permanent mutation?"

"I am fine. Though your concerns is admirable." he said calmly and gave me a faked smile. I narrowed my eyes at him, but before I could scold him for lying to me he looked at me in confusion. "Why were you immune to the radiation?"

I flinched and looked at my hands. They were normal, the only thing I had felt when my suit turned off was fear.

"I don't know." I muttered and looked at the others. "Why am I immune to the radiation?"

"We need people in here to take care of the criminals." Samson said, but I just cocked an eyebrow and placed a hand on my hip since he ignored my question. "What? I don't have an answer right now. I'll check it up, I promise."

When we were outside the Cube, a whole squadron of medics made a check up on us all. They couldn't find anything weird or unusual about me, not even a reason to why I was immune to the gamma. I sat on a rock and removed shreds of the radiation suit when another SHIELD agent came up to me and asked if he could try a special test. I sighed but nodded, and so we moved into the jet closest to the Cube.

"So, let's start with a blood sample." he said and prepared a needle.

"Sure, but make it quick." I said and looked away. "I want the answer today."

"I will do my best." he said and put the needle into my arm. It felt odd and my head was getting blurry. I looked at the SHIELD agent and saw him smile.

"What- what did you-" I asked before my head dropped down on a pillow. My world was getting blurry and spinning, but I wasn't blacking out.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt a bit." the man said. "I will give you the answer you need."

Suddenly he pulled out a gun with a red orb attached to the end of it, and when I looked into it I remembered it.

It was that one weapon that had wiped my memory clean.

I wanted to scream, but once he had fired I was thrown into a clouded world.

_Dark clouds covered the edges of my vision, and no matter where I turned all I saw was clouds threatening to start a storm. Everywhere were black pieces of a puzzle, and I was soaring among them. A few were colored and collected in front of me, but the hundreds of black pieces were still floating behind me. _

_I touched one of the black pieces with the tip of my index finger, when it suddenly grew in size and surrounded me in darkness. I looked around me in panic, when I heard a voice in the distance. _

"_Mommy, what is a half breed?" a child asked. I remembered the voice to be mine when I was younger. _

"_It is something that is created when a magical creature and a human falls in love and wants to start a family." a calm female voice said. I remembered it to be my mothers. _

"_Oh. Then who of you and daddy is a magical creature?" the child asked._

"_Your father is." the woman answered. "He is a-" _

I opened my eyes and saw Tony lean over my face, T'Challa a few steps behind him. I yelped and looked around me in shock and confusion. Tony just chuckled and patted my head.

"Morning, sleepyhead." he said. I pouted and looked around me to see the others being busy with other stuff.

"What happened?" I asked, looking around me. The villains were carried away to the jets and planes in either handcuffs or in some sort of tubes.

"We found you passed out on the ground over there. Figured you were tired and passed out. Which is pretty understandable since you were among the ones that fought longest." he explained with a smile on his face.

"Whatever." I muttered and placed a hand on my forehead and felt the throbbing still linger in my head.

_That memory_, I thought. _Why did that man give me that memory? How did he give it to me?_

"Are you okay?" T'Challa asked and looked at me with a worried voice. I nodded and gave him a faked smile before I placed my hand on the table under me.

"Just tired, and a bad headache. Nothing to worry about." I said before I rose to my feet and started to walk away.

"Whatever you say, honey." Tony said after me jokingly. I just rolled my eyes and continued walking until I reached Thor and Samson. I was about to talk to them when suddenly an explosion from afar interrupted me, and a green light flew towards us.

"What the hell?!" I yelled.


	8. Chapter 8: Gamma World, Part two

AN: Oh my beloved readers! I have let you down! *lying on the floor weeping* I promise, now that summer vacation is over and I've got internet beck, I will not let it take more than a month to post a chapter! I hope you can forgive me...

Chapter 8: _Gamma world, part two_

When I woke up I was still close to the Cube, but something was wrong. I couldn't move, or speak, and something carried me away from it. I looked around me and saw a creature with dark green skin and blonde hair on top of its head. He wore something that resembled to Cap's suit, but something was different.

I suddenly saw Samson and Thor over the shoulders of other creatures, and felt a slight panic. I looked at my hands and saw that they were gagged, and felt a small cloth over my mouth. I used my teeth and lips to remove the cloth, and when it was removed I finally got to speak.

"Samson! Thor! Wake up!" I yelled, but they didn't hear me. Their heads still hung and swayed as the creatures walked with them. I tried to wriggle out of the creature's grip, but it was too strong. I kicked and slammed my hands into the creature's back, but it didn't budge.

"Let go of me, you creep!" I yelled and kneed its face, causing it to drop me in surprise. I took my chance and leaped up in the air and tried to get away. I used my invisible platforms, when suddenly another creature flew up behind me and pushed me down on the ground again.

"No, leave me alone!" I cried and looked at it. It was a female wasp creature, with a yellow and black suit over her chest and hips. Her brown hair was a little messy over her head, but it was that brown hair that made me realize who it was.

"Jan?" I asked and looked at her. She just hissed at me and opened her bug like mouth, a little drool landing beside my head. "Jan, it's me! Snap out of it!"

She didn't change a bit, and soon a second creature walked up to me and reached its arm over my head. I recognized the red and yellow armor, but the black and yellow cords exiting from everywhere and the green eyes changed his appearance.

"Tony! It's me, Lyra! Snap out of it you nitwit!" I cried out again but it must have ticked him off, enough to make him knock me out again.

I woke again up hearing a voice. I slowly opened my eyes and saw a blurry Thor look at his hand and murmur something. I sat up and felt my head throb and the room spin, but I looked around anyway.

It was nothing but glass and metal around me. Metal floor, glass walls and bolts and screws in the ceiling. The room was as dull as my head was fogged. In the middle of the room were a pillar. There was a shadow on top of it, but I couldn't make out if it was human or another gamma monster.

"Ah, yes, it is quite curious. My wrecking crew could not lift your weapon even with their strength and hats by my gamma boosters. And the two of you, of all the Avengers, were not affected by my gamma energy. Now tell me, why is that?" a voice said, talking directly to Thor and I. I looked up and saw a short man in an orange suit and a large head, green skin and a crown over his eyebrows. I remembered the image Samson showed me and recognized him to be the Leader.

"Only those worthy of the thunder may wield Mjolnir, villain." Thor said and clenched his wrist. I stood up on my feet and removed my shades, looking at the Leader with a stern look.

"And as for your... energy, mortal science holds no fear for an Asgardian." Thor finished. He then gave me a quick glance, and I sighed.

"I have no idea." I muttered and placed a hand on my hip. He nodded a little before he looked back at the Leader, who turned his back at us.

"I suppose if gamma energy has no effect on a thunder god or... whatever you are, you two will simply serve as... entertainment." the Leader said. I heard something move behind me and spun around. I saw Samson lying on the floor, before he was dragged into the shadows by something.  
"Samson, no!" I yelled and followed him when something suddenly punched me in my stomach and sent me flying into the pillar where the Leader stood. My vision was getting darker, but I saw the Abomination from the SHIELD files that Samson also showed me. He was punching Thor's face into the floor, before he muttered to him.

"Not scared? You will be."

"Leave him alone!" I yelled and jumped up in the air, round house kicking the Abomination in his face. He took a step back and placed a hand over his sore face, before he flailed his arm and shoved me away. I landed on one knee, feeling my side hurt from his hard skin and claws. I looked at Thor and saw him stand up a little, but then the Abomination pushed him back into the floor again.

"You wanna play too, doll? Come on then." Abomination said and leaped forward towards me. I jumped up in the air and aimed an aerial kick towards his face again, but he grabbed my foot and lunged me into the window before he threw me into the pillar a second time. I felt my head throb and bruises grow on my skin, before my shades dropped from my head and shattered against the floor. I was paralyzed from the beating and could only sit back and listen for the time being.

"You call yourself leader, but what gives you the right to lead this world?" Thor asked angrily and glared at the Leader. "You defeat your enemies with trickery, with the strength of others! You have no honor."

"You wish me to talk? Fine." the Leader said. I smirked as I heard the tone in his voice. He was clearly taken aback by the words, but he had an answer to them.

"Why should I lead humanity?" he started as a headline, and looked at Thor as Abomination grabbed me by my shoulders and pulled me up to my feet. "I am the most advanced mind the world has ever seen! I think on a level normal human beings cannot begin to comprehend! Look at this world, Asgardian. Mankind is on the brink of destruction. They... need me."

A sudden thunderbolt rolled over the sky outside, and made me flinch. I didn't wear my shades so my eyes were weaker to sudden light. I narrowed my eyes and looked around me for a second before everything turned back to... as normal as it could get in the situation.

"Not to be a bad guest in your little dream world or anything," I said and wriggled out of Abomination's grip, putting my knuckledusters on my hands, "but I think it's time I kick your sorry excuse for a butt."

"Abomination. Attack." the Leader said simply. I looked at the giant green monster behind me and felt a hand on my head before I was pushed down into the floor, my face hurting and my pulse rising.

Thor punched him in the face, causing him to release me and take several steps back. I rose into a sitting position and looked at Leader, preparing a launch for him when suddenly Abomination flew towards me. I jumped over him and saw him fall to the floor, turning my head and sent an angry glare at Thor.

"You cannot win, you must know that." the Leader said simply and leaned on the edge of the pillar where he stood. I blew away a few strands of hair from over my eyes and looked at him.

"I disagree, villain." Thor said and held his hand out to the window closest to him. Suddenly the glass shattered around him, and his hammer came into his hand. I smiled and moved behind the pillar as the Leader focused all of his attention on Thor, planning on a sneak attack. A thunderbolt rolled over the sky outside again, and Thor's wrath was close to beyond control.

"I played your game long enough to retrieve Mjolnir, and now your game is over!" Thor said and glared at him. Suddenly a light blue blob crept up over his feet, clinging their way up to his hammer.

"What manner of-" Thor started in surprise, and I saw a smirk linger over the Leader's mouth.

"You, feeble minded fool!" the Leader said with a proud voice. "Of course I wanted you to retrieve your hammer; I let you do it."

The blob moved over to his hammer and turned into a man, in the same material as Thor's hammer. The man was bald, with a white linen over his chest and striped pants.

"Nice hammer. Now, let me show you why they call me the Absorbing Man." the man said and made his body spark with a few small bolts.

"You asked before what gives me the right to goal. Because no one can stop me." the Leader said and cocked an eyebrow as a victorious gesture.

Absorbing man used his hands and created hammer shaped fists, launching attack after attack at Thor before he lunged him into the arms of the Abomination. I jumped up above the pillar, blowing my chance of getting the Leader to help Thor. However, the Absorbing Man was faster than me and landed a hit in my injured side, making me fall to my knees and allow myself to be hit in the head by his hammer hands. I looked up at him and felt a strange glare, before he aimed another hit for me. I dodged it in the last second, but he grabbed my ankle and pulled me down into the floor.

"In fourteen point seven hours, my gamma dome will have covered half the planet. In another eleven point four three hours, the entire world will be engulfed!" the Leader stated cheerfully, and looked at the both of us fighting with a satisfied grin. "Anyone within the dome is mine to command. You have _lost_, Asgardian."

"Never!" Thor yelled, and we both hit our targets and sent them to each other. Thor flew out of the window together with the Absorbing man, crashing into the concrete road beneath the building. I looked at the Abomination and steadied a battle stance when he suddenly swept his arm over my head and forced me into the wall. Once again I hit a pressure point, temporarily paralyzing me. I looked over the scene and heard the Leader mutter to himself.

"And without the Avengers, who is left to stand against me?" he said a little disappointed. "Ah, I almost forgot. You are still here. I suppose I could eliminate you by myself, can I not?"

I clenched my fists and wished so badly to kick that big skull of his, making him regret he had ever forgotten me being in the room. Or underestimate my ability to fight.

Suddenly the floor behind the Leader exploded, and _Hawkeye_ jumped up with an arrow ready against his bow. I was shocked to say the least. His face was serious and almost intimidating, enough to make the Leader flinch at his appearance.

"You, with the head! Freeze!" he yelled and aimed his arrow for him, when suddenly Hulk entered the scene as well.

"Hulk! Hawkeye?" I called in relief, surprise and chock, and managed to move my hand before the Abomination grabbed me by my throat and threw me over to them. I landed on my back but quickly sat up on my knees and laid a hand on my sore throat, seeing them look at me with what almost looked like concern. I stood up and limped just a little closer to them, so that I wouldn't be taken by surprise.

"Hey there beautiful, didn't know you came to parties like this." Hawkeye teased and walked up next to me. I looked at him with wide eyes but giggled.

"Look who's talking, hotshot." I said and gave him a playful bump on his elbow, but my arm hurt and made the pain worse. "Why are you even helping?"

"Long story." Hawkeye said simply. "I'll tell ya if we go for a dinner."

"In your dreams." I muttered and noticed that Hulk had ignored us and taken a few steps closer to the Leader.

"I knew you would come eventually, my old enemy." the Leader said and spoke directly to Hulk. "But you of all people, must realize that this is for the best. In gamma world, no one will hunt you. No one will try and cure you. You would be a king! Everyone who hated you, who attacked you, they will be you! Are you really going to try and stop me?"

I looked at Hulk. This was an opportunity for him; people had always thought of him as a monster, even I had, and in this kind of world he would be just like any other person walking down the streets. I swallowed and looked at him with concerned eyes.

"No. Not stop you." he said. "SMASH YOU!" I heard a chuckle from the other side of Hulk and remembered that Hawkeye for some reason was still there.

The Leader sighed deeply. "Disappointing. But not unexpected. Abomination."

The Abomination suddenly jumped over the pillar where Leader stood and headed towards us when suddenly Hawkeye tackled me out of the way for him. I landed on my back with him on top of me, my hair escaping the hairband at the back of my head. We were frozen in that position until his lips turned up into a quirky smirk.

"Like your eyes." he said casually, trying to hit on me.

"Natural." I muttered and looked back at the Leader. "Don't you think we have more important things to finish before you start flirting with me?"

"Right, sugar." he said and moved away from me, and I rolled my eyes. He was acting just like Tony, except Tony didn't stare into my eyes lying on top of me or called me by cheeky nicknames. Hawkeye aimed an arrow towards the Leader and fired, but an overgrown panther man grabbed it between his teeth and saved him. I widened my eyes in shock and recognized the black suit over his head. Other creatures walked up past him and stared at us threateningly.

"No way... T'Challa!" I called, but the panther didn't even budge at the sound of my voice.

"You are either brave or very stupid, archer." the Leader said and looked at him. He referred to the arrows and had a victorious frown on his face.

"That's okay. I've got an arrow for each of you." Hawkeye said and placed another arrow by the bow.

"Can I help?" I asked as I looked at the others approaching. It was almost tearing my heart out to see them like that – mindless beasts.

"Try to distract them." Hawkeye said simply and shot the first arrow at Wasp. Nothing happened except that she winced from the hit, but then she lunged at him again. I raised my leg and hit her side hard, causing her to change course away from him. Then Cap charged at us, slamming his hands into the floor where we stood. We both jumped away and Hawkeye shot and arrow and hit his thigh. When we landed I almost bumped into Hawkeye again, blushing as I did.

"What do you think you are accomplishing? Your toys cannot hurt my creations." Leader called, trying to provoke Hawkeye.

"Yeah, I'm not a genius like you." Hawkeye said and showed him an arrow. "So I found one, and he made me some new arrows."

Suddenly Wasp changed back into herself in a pale green light, crashing into the floor unconscious. I looked at her in shock, feeling both relieved and surprised.

"His name is Bruce Banner. Maybe you've heard of him?" Hawkeye asked a little sarcastically, smirking at the Leader.

"Indeed I have." the Leader said and pressed a button on the control panel. Suddenly a skull shaped robot with tentacle arms exited the pillar, and beams of something green were charging by the hands.

"Great." Hawkeye whispered with a weak voice. I looked at him in unexpected surprise. He was so cocky and brave just a second ago. Maybe all he did was trying to impress me. _Perfect._

Hawkeye shot two more arrows at Iron Man and Black Panther, before the Leader started to fire at us. Hawkeye sent arrows flying towards him as well, landing an exploding one on the head of the robot. I sneaked up behind it and climbed up on the glass once the explosion faded, and heard the Leader talk from the inside.

"My genius cannot be defeated! But planned for every continuance!"

"Too bad you're such a lousy shot then, cucumber head." Hawkeye said and jumped up on his arm with me close behind him, firing an arrow up the opening Hulk and Abomination had created as they flew out. He grabbed me by my waist and hauled the two of us up using a wire cord inside the arrow, meeting the night sky and stars shining through the green blanket of gamma energy. Suddenly I heard a loud crash and saw Hulk lying on his back with the Abomination trying to stomp on his chest. They looked like they were talking, and suddenly Hulk smirked.

"But I've got something you don't." Hulk said and looked back at us. "Backup."

Hawkeye shot an arrow, hitting Abomination in the forehead and causing him to stumble back a few steps. The arrow made him shrink a little, and the small device on his chest turned from green to black. I jumped up in the air and landed an aerial kick to his head, removing the arrow but also making him back of a little more. He was close to the edge of the building, only one more step and he would fall down. Then Hulk came and punched him square in the jaw, sending him flying away into the desert. The roof started to rumble all of a sudden, and Hawkeye ran away from the opening in the floor towards us.

"We've got incoming!" he said and placed another arrow against his bow. I sighed and saw the robot fly up through the hole and land just a few feet away from us.

"It can fly too?" I cried out with annoyance in my voice. "Why does the bad guys always have the best toys?"

"The three of you think you can defeat me?" the Leader said through a speaker system. "I have already calculated a thousand ways to destroy you!"

Suddenly the Absorbing Man came and crashed into the robot, breaking the glass and sending it aback. A thunderbolt rolled over the sky and Thor entered the scene.

"Destroy? You do not know the meaning of the word, Leader." he said and landed close to us. I smirked evilly and placed a hand on my hip.

"See, that's the problem with big brain villains." I mocked him. "They are all talk, no action. Easy to hurt too." Hulk looked at me before he grunted.

"You really want to hurt the Leader? This is how." he said before he grabbed a hold of the antenna close to us. With one throw, he removed it from the building and sent it into space. I heard a painful scream from the robot and saw the Leader's head swelling up, bigger than all of him together.

The sun slowly rose from the horizon. The Leader crawled out of his wreck for robot and leaned his ginormous head against the ground, since he couldn't hold it up. He placed himself on his back in front of the four of us, just staring at the sky with an empty expression on his face.

"It would have been glorious." he murmured, exhausted and shocked over his failure. "I was creating the perfect world, all in my image."

"That's the problem." Hulk said and leaned his head over him to stare at him. "You're ugly."

"Good one, big guy." I said and patted his arm. He looked at me and smiled.

SHIELD and millions of other agencies came to the spot, locking the gamma-villains up in tubes before transporting them to a new secret location. Samson gave us all a thumbs up as he was transported to a hospital, and the others were once again put through tests to check their health.

T'Challa walked up to me and waited until the medic had walked away, until he sat down next to me on the medic bed.

"I hope I did not injure you." he said and looked at my bandaged hands and waist. I smiled at him.

"Well, you all kind of did, but not too bad." I said and smiled, wincing as the pain in my side returned. "Don't worry, I'm gonna be fine."

"I am glad that you are safe, Lyra." he whispered and looked down on the ground. I looked at him with wide eyes and felt confused by his sudden action. I lifted my hand and gave him a light punch on the shoulder, getting his attention again. He looked at me from under the mask, but I could almost see the confusion in his eyes.

"I'm glad you're okay too, T'Challa." I said and leaned against my hands at the back of the bed. "Thanks for worrying. But... what was it you said... your concern is admirable."

T'Challa smiled and looked into my eyes with something I was unable to put a name on, but I smiled back at him. Suddenly I heard that Hawkeye was talking to Quartermain about something, when Tony interrupted their conversation.

"Here's another option: join us. Join the Avengers." Tony offered, gesturing with his hand towards us. I smiled and folded my arms over my chest, pushing a medic away from me.

"I don't think so." Hawkeye said and shook his head. "Look how easily the Leader took you all out. I'm better of on my own."

My eyes dropped to the ground and I sighed. He was right and wrong on the same time. He was right that the Leader took out the others, but not all of us. Besides, they couldn't help the gamma radiation or their transformations. T'Challa noticed my reaction and put a hand on my shoulder. I looked at him and smiled again.

"And what of you?" Thor asked and looked at Hulk. I quickly snapped out of my thoughts and looked between the two of them. "Will you walk away as well? You are indeed a noble warrior, Hulk. One who has saved the Avengers and now helped save the world. I will trust you with my life. Will you trust us?"

"Uh... I'll stay if Cupid stays." Hulk said, causing me to smirk. Calling Hawkeye Cupid was too good to ignore. Suddenly Hawkeye turned towards us and clenched his fist, putting it up to threaten Hulk.

"You wanna go, Jade-jaws? Right here and now? Let's do this!" he threatened and stared at the green man.

"Okay, this is gonna be fun." Tony said next to me, and I just cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, and I'm the one who's gonna live under the same roof as most of them..." I muttered before I stepped between them. They both looked at me. "How about you save the 'going' till later, it's early in the morning and I'm starving." I suggested and looked both of them in the eyes. "How about I treat you all for breakfast?"

"Good idea, dolly." Hulk said, making me raise an eyebrow and look at him.

"Dolly? What the heck do you mean by that, you overgrown vegetable?" I scolded, standing on my tip toes to reach up to his face. "Call me that one more time, and I swear to God I'll take that attitude and shove it up your-"

That was when T'Challa finally stepped in and put a hand over my mouth.


	9. Chapter 9: Masters of Evil

Chapter 9: _Masters of evil_

I heard footsteps outside the training room and stopped punching the sandbag for a moment. I turned around and expected to see Tony or Cap, but I was wrong. There stood T'Challa in a white long drape, similar to the one the old man in his land wore except this one was also golden. He wore golden gauntlets as well and a pair of sandals in the same golden shimmer. Next to him stood Hawkeye in his usual hero attire, a cocky smirk on his lips. I sighed and looked between them to find a clue of what they wanted from me.

"What do you want?" I asked a little impolitely.

"It is noon, Lyra." T'Challa said and nodded a little awkwardly at me. I widened my eyes and looked at the clock on my wall.

"Darn it, I'm late!" I yelled and hurried back into my room. "Why didn't anyone tell me sooner?"

"Maybe everyone wanted us to see this reaction. It's kinda cute." Hawkeye said and winked his eye at me. I glared at him and took off my boxing gloves, pushing them into his chest with a lot of force.

"Don't you have anything better to do than stand there?" I asked and walked up to the door. Hawkeye shook his head but T'Challa nodded and pulled Hawkeye with him. I looked after them as Hawkeye tried to get out of T'Challa's grip. I ran as fast as I could to my room and closed my door and started to undress before heading to the small bathroom. I took a quick shower and brushed my teeth at the same time, before putting my clothes on and headed out the door.

"Jarvis!" I called and headed for the kitchen.

"Yes, Ms Lewis?" the mechanic voice said and flashed the lights in the panel. I smiled at it and opened the fridge.

"I'm going out today, meeting Casey and her guy. Think you can get me a ride?" I said and took out the milk and a box of cereals.

"Certainly. May I suggest your motorcycle?" Jarvis said, causing me to almost choke on my cereals.

"What? I have a motorcycle?" I asked in shock and put down the bowl.

"Indeed, a man came by earlier today and claimed it belonged to you. It is on the front lawn, I believe." Jarvis said and flashed the lights again. I quickly ran out of the kitchen and to the main hall, opening the door before I saw the beauty standing outside.

It was a modern cycle, with a black shell and seat, with golden shock absorbers and a red key hanging from the small dashboard. The shine from the sun made the black almost form a larger shadow in the air around it, making it look almost magical.

"Holy shit, this is amazing!" I squealed and placed myself over the bike. I was so surprised I didn't know what to do but start the engine and drive a few laps around the lawn. I stopped and let out a thrilled shout before I realized something.

"I need a helmet!" I said when I stopped and grabbed the key before I ran inside before I saw a helmet lay on the table closest to the door.

"Already prepared, Ms Lewis." Jarvis said. I could imagine an animated face smiling at me, before I leaned to the panel closest to me and gave it a peck on the screen. I wiped it off as I saw a mark from my lips so he could see everything, before smiling widely.

"Jarvis, you are the best. If you were a living person I'd hugged you by now." I said happily and put on the thick helmet, a black full face helmet with a shaded visor that I pulled over my head. I pulled on my black leather jacket and walked out to the motorcycle, before launching off into the streets to the cafe where I was supposed to meet Casey.

I finally found the cafe and parked the motorcycle on the parking lot, pulling off the helmet and releasing my hair. It was like the movies where a girl came on a motorcycle and waved her hair in the breeze before walking up to the hero seductively, but it didn't. I just walked normally to the cafe with the helmet under my arm and the keys in my hand.

"Lyra?!" I heard Casey call once I opened the door to the cafe. I looked over at her and saw her sit by a table next to a pretty handsome man, and walked over to them.

"Hey, Casey." I said and patted her head. "You must be Casey's guy. I'm Lyra."

"Hey, I'm Phil." he said a little astonished. He had brown hair and brown eyes, slightly tanned skin and wore a white shirt and blue jeans. He seemed to be pretty much an average guy, but seemed friendly. I placed the helmet on the other side of the table from them and sat down on the free chair, facing Casey.

"So, I'm curious. How did you two meet?" I said, heading straight to the point. They both looked at each other a little awkwardly before smiling.

"I was out shopping," Casey started and blushed a little, "and then I suddenly saw a little cake shop. Ya know, I'm kinda addicted to cakes."

"I was there too, buying something for my little sisters birthday." Phil said, slowly warming up to me. "I was just going to the door to get some fresh air when suddenly-"

"Bang!" Casey said and clapped her hands together. "I smashed tha door in his face, making him fall on his butt. I helped him up, and when we looked into each others eyes, we both knew we belonged together."

"Nah, it was more when you offered me to buy me a coffee when I really liked you." Phil joked, and Casey pulled away from him, looking hurt.

"What? Ya meanie, yer scaring me when ya say that!" she said and folded her arms over her chest. Phil laughed and pulled her closer to him, kissing the tip of her nose.

"You know I like you because you're clumsy." he said, but she only looked more hurt. "And charmingly childish."

"Man, you two are the cutest couple I've ever seen." I said and leaned back in my chair. "Or at least the cutest couple I can remember seeing."

"What?" Phil asked a little confusedly, but Casey interrupted before I had a chance to explain.

"She lost her memory, poor thing. I took care of her before she found someplace else to slag on."

"Losing your memory?" Phil asked with a frown on his face. "That's harsh. What do you remember?"

"Well I've only uncovered a few things. It's like a puzzle, with hundreds of black pieces waiting to be patched back to the others and get painted." I said and remembered the black pieces of the puzzle I saw when the mysterious SHIELD-agent shot me with that weird gun. Casey and Phil looked at me in surprise, but I just giggled. "The very first thing I remember is being lost in the wild just outside of town. Other than that, a few things about my childhood." I said, trying to make it easier for them to understand since they both looked like question marks.

"But where do you live now?" Phil asked and took a zip of his coffee. I felt my skin pale and remembered that I couldn't tell them I was an Avenger, even if Casey already knew.

"I, uh..." I stuttered. "It's complicated, but I live with a couple of friends for the while till I find my own place."

"Okay, that's nice." he said and leaned back in his chair. My skin returned to its natural color, and Casey giggled as Phil spooned her some cake. I looked at the both of them and dreamed myself away. Even if I looked and seemed rough and tough, I also wanted a boyfriend. Someone to talk to about stuff you sometimes couldn't talk with your girlfriends about, someone to snuggle with on cozy evenings in front of the TV or the open fireplace, or go to a fancy restaurant with. Someone to trust and to laugh with. I slapped myself mentally and smirked. How on earth would I find that prince perfect, acting all cocky and cool? Being a bad ass former street fighter wouldn't make that search any easier.

"Lyra." Casey said and made me snap out of my thoughts. She smiled sheepishly at me and looked into my eyes, making me blush a little and lean back a little.

"What?" I asked a little awkwardly, and Casey just smiled a little wider.

"I think yer in love." she said. I flinched and folded my arms over my chest, facing another direction.

"I- I have no idea what you're talking about." I said and blushed a little more. She giggled and Phil put down his spoon.

"Come on Lyra, it's pretty obvious you have someone you like." he said, also smiling. I looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Hey, I've known you for less than twenty minutes and you're already butting in on my personal life?" I snapped, before facing away again. He giggled as well, and Casey nudged my shoulder.

"Come on Lyra, tell us. We're yer friends, ya can trust us." she pleaded, but I just shook my head.

"I can't tell you, because... I'm not in love. At least not what I remember." I said and snatched a piece of Casey's cake. "Besides, if I were to like someone I would have noticed."

"Ya never know unless ya listen to yer heart." Casey said and hugged Phil's side. I blushed again and looked down on the table.

"Hey, what's that cool bike you have?" Phil suddenly asked. "Never seen one of those before. And I work designing motorbikes."

"Oh, that." I said and felt the warmth on my cheeks disappear. "I don't know, I think it's custom made because I didn't see any company marks or anything."

"Still, it's a good handiwork. Can we look at it?" Phil asked excitedly, glimmering eyes and a face full of hope. I smiled and nodded, picking up my helmet and leading the way.

As soon as we exited the door, a man came up to me and stepped in my way. I was of course annoyed, but I only shrugged and tried to make my way past him. Suddenly he grabbed my hand and pulled it up to his face. I looked at him in shock and tried to wriggle out of his grip, when suddenly someone approached form behind me. I spun around and saw the Enchantress and her Executioner, along with the supposed to be dead Simon, along with a purple dressed man with a crown on his head. I remembered him from the footage when we searched for Panther; his name was Baron Zemo.

"What the heck do you want?" I snapped and wriggled in the man's grip, but he still held me tight. Suddenly he pulled out a small pendant and placed it over my head. Suddenly I felt dizzy and fell to my knees. I looked at the man and remembered the scar over his eye.

"Mr... Day?" I muttered before I lost my consciousness.

_Visions of a small girl walking around and talking to people played before me, and several things were very familiar to me. I looked around me and felt the memories replay themselves before me, painting more of the black pieces of the puzzle in bright colors surrounding me. I touched a piece and felt a strange feeling run through my arm, before it turned into either a red or blue color and stuck itself to the other pieces. Suddenly everything turned black, and a few memories rolled before my eyes. _

_I woke up in a soft bed in a white room. I looked around me and saw dolls, teddy bears, clothes and a lot of other things lying around. I rose up in the bed and felt my hair reach my hands. I looked at my body and saw the hands of a child. _

"_What the heck-" I started, when I heard that my voice belonged to a child as well. Suddenly the door to my room opened, and I changed perspective and saw everything from the ceiling in the room, flying around like a ghost. _

_I saw a man walk in, with dark hair and glowing purple eyes. He had a narrow face and skinny arms and legs, wearing a pajamas shirt and pants. After him came a woman with dark hair and blue eyes, wearing a bathrobe and slippers. Behind her crawled a little girl on all four, a pacifier in her mouth and a full body suit in a sweet pink color. The child I had been for a few seconds looked at them in surprise and excitement, and I suddenly realized who that little girl was._

_It was me, eight years old._

"_Happy birthday, my little fairy." my dad, Lloyd said and ruffled my hair. Or rather, the younger me. The floating me flew closer to the family, as the first gift of the day was placed on the bed before the younger me. She, or I, opened it and squealed as she saw the pretty pink dress, with ribbons and a rose like pattern over the chest._

"_Are we going to grandmother's house today, daddy?" the younger me asked cheerfully. Dad patted her, or my head again and nodded, before letting the other two walk up to her. _

_Suddenly the vision changed, and a great house was seen. The white walls looked like cream in the bright sunlight, and the window frames made of wood made a good combination of classic and modern at the same time. The doors were in dark wood with silvery doorknobs, and the curtains in the rooms looked like shadows playing in the rooms. There was a porch, made entirely out of wood with pillars in the corners, holding up the roof made of wooden beams and a thin textile._

_The two girls were playing in the backyard, swirling around in a beautiful flower garden, roses and violets growing closest to the small path laid in the middle of it all, and bigger bushes around the edges of the garden with fruits or bigger flowers. The grown ups sat on the porch drinking coffee and chatting in comfy outdoor chairs next to a wooden table. The younger girl handed the younger me a doll with messy hair. I heard my name being said from the grown ups and headed over there, hearing them out._

"_Lyra is so good to June, I have never seen such kindness in one girl her age." the older woman said. I remembered seeing part of this memory before, from when Casey and I were driving from the first cafe into town, before Graviton. _

"_Yes she is, but there is something troubling me." my father said and frowned before looking at the two of us. "She seems to have... my abilities." _

"_Nothing to worry about, son." the older woman said. "If you could handle them, then she can. And so will June. With such good parents it will not be too hard." _

"_I hope you are right, mother." dad said before looking at her. "Hopefully I will be able to guide her all the way." _

_Suddenly the vision changed again, and a car came into view. I suddenly sat between the two girls in the backseat, looking at the road ahead of us._

"_I think June is having a nightmare." the younger me said before June opened her eyes wide and screamed. _

"_CAR!" _

_I looked before me and saw another car approach, the lights off and in full speed. My father hit the brakes and tried to evade a hit, but the car drove straight into it. My vision faded before I was standing by the side of the road, the second car driving away from the scene. The car my family sat in was burning, probably the fuel tank exploded or broke in the crash and a plug started the fire. _

_My parents hurried out of the car, before running to the doors where me and my sister were. They opened them, and even thought they burned their hands they fought to get us out. _

"_Lloyd, quick!" my mother, Ana, said and pulled me out. They ran away from the car and hid themselves a good few yards away if the fuel tank would explode or cause the fire to spread, and placed our bodies on the ground. _

"_They're not breathing! Lloyd, they're not breathing!" my mother said and panicked, and my father wrapped his arms around her shoulders. After a few moments of silence, he released her and pulled the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows._

"_Lloyd, honey. What are you-" mother asked, but he interrupted her._

"_I'm going to resurrect them, so that they can get to the hospital." he answered coldly and placed his hands on our foreheads. Mother grabbed his arm and looked into his purple eyes with fear._

"_You can only save one life at a time, you can't save both of them without dying." she said, and my heart stopped for a second. Father looked down at us again, before sighing deeply and looking back at her._

"_So be it." he said, making me flinch behind them. "If I can save my daughter's lives, even if I have to sacrifice my own, I'll do it. It is my duty as a father, and as a-" _

_Mother started to cry and wrapped her arms around his neck, crying into his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her as well, and when they finally pulled apart he looked into her eyes. They then kissed each other for what seemed like the last time, and then he placed his hands over our foreheads again. _

"_Dad, no!" I called and leaped forward. "Don't do it! Just save June!" _

_Suddenly a faint blue light appeared from his chest. The light grew little by little as the seconds flew past, when it suddenly exited his body and separated into two and landed on our chests. I stopped and just stared at the man, my father, as he slowly turned into dust and flew up in the night sky like a hundred new stars. My mother started to cry again, screaming his name and holding her hands up to the sky for him. _

_Suddenly one of the girls moved, and mother snapped out of her sadness. She picked the two of us up, and started to run. I followed her as fast as I could, before I felt something run down my cheek. I used my hand to quickly wipe it away, and saw that it was tears. _

_Great, I thought to myself, I haven't cried for I don't know how long, and I just have to start now. _

_The vision changed again, and I saw my mother sit in a chair at the hospital. She had a bandage around her head and left hand, and my grandmother sat next to her holding her healthy hand. Suddenly a nurse exited the doors and stopped in front of mother with a pale face._

"_We are sorry, but we lost the younger one."_

_Suddenly my vision faded again, and I returned to the pieces of the puzzle. The top left corner was filled with pieces, and one single piece floated close to me. I touched it and saw it turn pink, before placing itself in the maze of other pieces. The corner looked like a small piece of a room, and something stood close to the middle. _

_Then I woke up._

"Wake up, my beautiful." a deep male voice said and slapped me. I squinted my eyes shut and tried to hold back a scream. I slowly opened my eyes, feeling warm fresh tears run down and saw Mr Day stand in front of me, the pendant he had placed over my head in his hand. I gritted my teeth and growled at him, like an animal.

"You!" I yelled and tried to attack him. Something held me back to the chair I sat in, and when I looked down I saw the all too familiar green smoke from the Enchantress' magic. I looked up at Mr Day and clenched my teeth.

"What the heck are you doing here, Day? Don't you have something to hack or someone to kill?" I snapped and looked at him from above my shades. He just laughed and slapped the shades off of my face.

"No, I have something more... interesting to take care of here. For example, you." he said and leaned closer to my face. I paled and tried to lean back, but the chair stopped me. He kissed my cheek and bit my earlobe playfully. I felt my blood boil in my veins, wanting to hurt him more than ever.

"Do you remember that?" he asked and backed of. "Probably not, I know you only remember the first few years of your life."

"I remember how to use my powers too, jerk. You better watch it." I spat at him, but he just shrugged. I saw a few other villains behind him, among them Zemo, the Enchantress and the Abomination. I smirked and looked at him again.

"So what made you gang up with these guys, Day?" I asked mockingly and gritted my teeth again. "What happened to Magenta and the others?"

"Oh, I am still in charge of the Organization, dearest." he said and smiled at me before leaning down to me. "However, they are in need of my service since none of them seem to know how to hack into a computer without leaving traces."

I sighed and tried to move away from him, but he just leaned closer to my face again. Suddenly the Abomination and Zemo started to argue behind him, and Zemo knocked the Abomination down to his knees before aiming his sword to his throat. That's when I saw the shield on his arm.

"What the heck?" I asked myself before I saw the other three captives far off to my left. Cap, Wasp and Tony sat in similar chairs to the one I sat in, identical magical rings around them as well.

_That's weird_, I thought and looked around me. _Where's Hulk? And why is Thor on a table_?

Suddenly an arrow landed in the forehead of the Abomination and sent a powerful electric charge through his body, knocking him out. More arrows were shot after Zemo and one after the Enchantress, but Zemo blocked them with the shield and the Enchantress used her magic to teleport herself out of the spot.

"Okay, that was a pretty good move." Hawkeye said as he landed on the table where the Enchantress had stood, and where I saw Thor lay. He looked over at me and winked his eye. "Hey beautiful, I'm home!"

I smirked and looked at the now pale Mr Day, before I kicked him in the chest and sent him stumbling back a few steps. He looked at me with angry eyes before he turned his back at me.

"You are worm food, mortal!" the Enchantress said before sending attacks in his direction, but he quickly evaded it. A walkie-talkie suddenly called from behind Zemo, close to Mr Day, and a male voice with panic in his voice spoke.

"Zemo! Another Avenger is inside the mansion! A Wakandan!" the voice said, but I couldn't tell who it was.

"Seems like your little surprise party got another surprise." I said mockingly and smirked at them, before Mr Day slapped me again. I felt a small streak of blood run down my lip and figured my he split my lip, but it didn't bother me. What bothered me was the fact that fell into the arms of the Abomination, who started to crush him.

"Here's some payback, Robin Hood." the Abomination said and smirked at Hawkeye.

"Please, I'm begging you." Hawkeye started and fought to even breathe. "Brush your teeth."

I giggled silently and saw Tony wake up and look around us. I saw the Executioner, Simon and a man in a crimson robotic suit enter the Assembly hall, with Black Panther over his shoulder.

"Hawkeye, are you insane?!" he yelled and narrowed his eyes. "Why didn't you put in SHIELD?"

"See, I knew it." Hawkeye muttered as Panther was thrown down on the floor next to him. I paled as Zemo walked up to them with his sword in his hand.

"Ah, so a SHIELD agent and a Wakandan king? You should have walked away from the Avengers before it came to this. Now, you must be punished."

"I am an Avenger. I will meet my destiny with honor." Panther said with his royal pride, looking at all of the villains standing before them.

"I'm gonna meet mine kicking and screaming." Hawkeye muttered as Zemo pointed his sword at his throat. He forced him to stand up before he looked over at Tony and Cap.

"Your choice, Captain. Which one of your teammates will be the first to taste my blade?" Zemo mocked, trying to threaten him. I paled and looked at both Panther and Hawkeye, feeling my blood drop down on my suit and thighs.

"You know what, Zemo? I wanna go first. I'm tired of listening to you." Hawkeye said jokingly, but it wasn't funny at all. I tried to wriggle myself out of the magic strap around me, but it was no use.

"Amusing." Zemo said and raised an eyebrow under his mask. "Did you really believe the two of you would defeat all of us?"

"Weird. Purple puss seems to think we were trying to defeat him." Hawkeye said and looked at Panther.

"I heard." he said, sounding amused and shocked me. Did they actually make a fool out of Zemo? "He is misguided." Hawkeye leaned on Panther's shoulder and made gestures as he spoke. "We were not trying to defeat your team, we were simply allowing Ant-Man uninterrupted access to his lab."

I smiled at the two of them. I knew Panther was smart and a good fighter, and that Hawkeye probably would make some sort of prank out of it all, but never that they both would cooperate and create a delusion like that. It was surprisingly impressive.

"Yeah, we picked him up from the Wakandan embassy while you tools were starting your little siege here." Hawkeye explained with a smirk on his face. "He just needed to get a few things."

Zemo turned around and saw Ant-Man stand there with a big gun in his hand.

"Surrender, Zemo. End this before anyone gets hurt." Ant-Man said before he saw me. "Any further."

"Observant as usual, professor." I muttered and licked most of the blood running over my lips away. I saw Wasp move in the corner of my eye, before she yelled out to him.

"Hank? Are you crazy, run!"

"Tear, him, apart!" Zemo ordered before Simon, or Wonder Man as Zemo had called him, lunged at him. Ant-Man pressed a button on the weapon before the barrel turned yellow, and a beam of yellow light was shot at him.

"Sorry Simon." Ant-Man muttered as he fired. Wonder Man clutched his head before he turned into purple light again, disappearing into the air. I widened my eyes and felt my chest hurt. _He died again. Why did he have to die again?_

Ant-Man shrunk down into the size of an insect and disappeared, and Zemo glared at the floor around us.

"He shrunk down. Dynamo!" he said, and the crimson armored man looked all over the place before he aimed his right arm for something, turning it into a weapon. Ant-Man suddenly grew into full size, heading towards Abomination.

"Come on, bug!" Abomination said and clenched his fists, but Ant-Man continued to grow and turned into Giant-Man. "Uh, what are you-"

Giant-Man kicked the Abomination into the roof like a football, sending him flying out of the window. I let out a small squeal and laughed.

"Score to the heroes!" I yelled over the commotion of Dynamo firing at Giant-Man's back, before Panther shot a few energy shots with his vibranium claws. I saw the Enchantress fire a green smoke cloud at him and Hawkeye trying to free Thor from the table. After evading her attack he knocked her out, freeing us from the chairs. I picked up my shades and placed them over my eyes, before Mr Day lunged at me. I caught his hand in mine and cracked his knuckles. He flinched but didn't budge, before he kneed my stomach and made me fall to my knees. I swept his feet away under him and jumped away from him before removing my shades and glared at him. He seemed to pale again and held out his hand.

"You idiot! Do you even remember how dangerous it is to use your eyes like that with so many people in the same room?" he yelled and stood up, looking away from me. I flinched and felt a small flashback approach, but I pushed it aside and jumped at him and kicked him. He and the remaining villains gathered close to the table, while we gathered closer to the wall behind us. I smirked and tossed my shades aside, before Iron Man cracked his knuckles angrily.

"Alright, I want these scrums out of my house, right now." he said before we all charged at them.

We all separated, and I was left with Mr Day just outside the Assembly hall, in the lab together with Hulk and the Enchantress. Day aimed a punch for my face but I quickly evaded, before punching him in the chest and then elbowed him in the back. He fell to the floor, but I was far from done fighting him. I didn't really know what he had done to me to hurt me so much, but all I knew is that I hated this man.

I placed my foot on his side and lunged him up in the air, before swirling around and making a small jump while tossing him down into the floor face first. He screamed in pain, but he didn't fall unconscious. I looked at him with burning eyes, removing my shades when he suddenly pulled out the pendant again. I clenched my teeth and looked at him in confusion.

"I see you remembered the special move I taught you. I am proud." he muttered before rising into a sitting position. I growled at him again before taking a step back.

"What do you mean?" I muttered and clenched my fists. He snickered and showed me the pendant again.

"Shall I tell you what else I taught you? Or maybe not, it would be too painful for your already sore mind." he asked himself, and I grabbed him by the collar.

"If you have the key to my memories, you have to give it to me. Or else I _will_ kill you." I threatened, but he just smirked.

"I shall give you a few more pieces of your puzzle, my dear. No catch." he promised, and my vision got black.

I felt like falling. I felt extreme pain in my whole body, and felt rock hard floor underneath me. The face of Mr Day was in front of my eyes, and when I finally realized what was going on in my memory, I woke up and saw Hulk look at me. I paled and rose to my feet, seeing no sign of Mr Day.

"You okay?" he asked and looked at me. I looked at him for a second before I looked down at the floor and shook my head. He seemed to be confused, but escorted me to the others in the living room slash lounge. Wasp and Ant-Man sat on the couch, Wasp with an ice pack against her head. I placed myself on the smaller chair next to Hulk. Thor soon came out as well, and Tony, Panther and Hawkeye as well.

"So, when did you come back from Wakanda?" Wasp asked Ant-Man, trying to lighten up the mood.

"You know," Hawkeye suddenly said as he plopped down on the couch next to Wasp. "I'm not so sure I wanna be part of a team I have to rescue every week."

"Perhaps they will elect you team leader now." Panther suddenly said, and I understood that he was trying to give him a reason to stay. Or, at least lie so that he would keep his hopes up for the team.

"Really? You think?" he asked, naive like a child. However, I couldn't care less. My mind was too focused on the memory I had received from Mr Day. The pain, his angry and satisfied face.

"Okay, stop, everyone stop!" Tony suddenly said and waved his arms around him. "Does anyone knows what that was all about?"

"Our enemies wish vengeance upon us." Thor said from behind Tony, closer to the open fireplace. "Defeat does not suit well with some."

"I'm not so sure." Cap said and placed his hand to his chin. "Zemo... he seemed so certain on what he was doing. Like it was going to put the world in his hands."

"How?" Tony asked angrily and confused.

"He said someone had promised it to him." Cap finished, before I stood up and took a deep breath.

"I can guess who." I muttered and clenched my fists. The others looked at me with a confused look. I sighed and released my fists. _Should I explain what I saw? What he showed me?_

"What do you mean?" Tony asked and caught my eye. I felt tears push at the back of my eyes but held them back as hard as I could, and finally made up my mind.

"Mr Day is infamous for promising too much but never keeps a word. Once he's done with you, you're a goner for sure." I said and put my knees to my chest. "It wouldn't surprise me if he's using them all to gain something more from all of them."

"But what could he possibly promise them?" Jan asked slightly puzzled. I looked down on the fireplace and felt my blood boil again.

"Our defeat. Their victory. He is a man with many words." I said.

"And how exactly do you know all of that?" Tony asked with anger in his voice. I knew he was getting suspicious of me, but now that I had started telling I couldn't back down.

"He made one of those promises to me long ago." I whispered and felt my nails burrow into the flesh of my hands. "I would have been dead if I hadn't seen through his facade. That's why he's after me. To find something to finally silence me."

_Something to finally kill me._

I ran off to my room to hide the tears. The others stared after me, but I needed to be left alone.


End file.
